Storm COMPLETE
by Bellatrix2
Summary: COMPLETE Dr. Crusher is trapped in her own mind and only Troi can help but in order to do this she must relive Bev's past memories. PG 13. Read and review please, complete in 20 chapters, DS9TNG crossover
1. Prologue

A/N: This was my second attempt at fan fiction after I finished Divergence. I love the Picard and Crusher characters and wanted to do something relating to the both of them. So, this was my take on it. I wrote this story about 8 years ago. Please leave a review after you've read- good or bad.  
  
I own nothing at all to do with the Star trek universe... I'm just playing with the characters for a while.  
  
Prologue  
  
The dark grey clouds loomed ominously overhead as the woman stood waiting. Great masses of swirling gasses closed in on each other blocking out any sun light that might try to sneak past, and causing everything below to go dim, and depressingly colourless. The air was still and calm and carried no far off noises to the ears of anyone who might be listening.  
It gradually began to get warmer and darker still as the first rumble of thunder was heard off in the far distance. The woman moved slightly and sighed. She had been waiting for a while now but no matter how hard she tried, she could not remember why she was waiting, but she felt compelled to do so just the same; and so she waited a bit longer.  
She looked up at the sky as she felt the first splash of cool rain on her face. It was a welcome sensation as the day had been hot and sticky and it was still very close. She loved the rain, it made her think that it was the Earth's way of cleansing itself of all the badness, and so she listened intently to the drips and splashes around her feeling somewhat content.  
The thunder drew closer and gradually louder as the storm set to work. It had been building up to this particular moment in time for days now, and it had finally arrived. The sky opened up and the rain poured down, bouncing back off the ground below with the force of the impact. The woman sighed again letting the rain splash down on her face and feeling the relief that came to her when the storm finally broke. She moved to one side slightly and stood under a large English oak tree. With its thick green foliage it provided plenty of shelter, as the weather became more dismal and bleak.  
She looked down towards a pool of water that was forming in the middle of the road.  
Road?  
What road?  
She hadn't remembered a road being there when she came here, but then she hadn't remembered coming here, how she got there, why she was there or indeed where she in fact was. All she knew was that it somehow seemed familiar to her, and she felt compelled to wait.  
But for what?  
She felt sure that the answers she seeked were not far from her mind.  
The thunder rumbled loudly once again as it moved directly above her, and the sharp flash of fork lightening that stabbed at the ground one hundred meters away, made her attention snap back, and her vision to focus on the pool of water once again. She watched as the rain splashed in the puddle, causing rippling effects that moved in concentric circles towards the outside of the pool.  
Mesmerizing.  
A sharp stab of lightening appeared once again with the thunder rumbling loudly and following closely behind. It lit up the sky with an electrifying charge as the lightening streaked across the evening sky. Was it evening? She thought to herself or was it just dark with the storm?  
The rain subsided after about half an hour of the heavy droplets pelting off the ground, the thunder had long since dissipated and the sky had lost all of its electrical charge. It was cold now and the woman began to shiver slightly, she pulled her cloak tightly around her and stepped out from under the tree, moving closer to the pool of water on the road. The water lay still and clear, as she moved closer to it and looked down. Something looked back at her. Her reflection? She studied the image but could not recollect it as being her. Could it be that she had never seen herself before? She could not remember but it did seem unlikely. Nevertheless, she was motivated by curiosity to look again. Sure enough as she moved closer to the water again, the same image reappeared. It must be her; there was no one else here after all.  
She moved her hand up to her hair and touched it gently; the reflection did the same. A wisp of hair fell down into her eyes and she brushed it aside absentmindedly, and as though it was a perfectly natural thing for her to do. She studied her reflection. Her hair was a vibrant reddish/orange colour and was quite long, falling about her shoulders in a neat and tidy style. Her eyes were blue and she had a healthy complexion and a warm glow about her with red cheeks showing, after the rain had cooled everything down.  
She looked up from the puddle and glanced at her surroundings.  
Mist or fog rather, she really couldn't see more then ten meters in front of herself.  
Had it been foggy all along?  
What she did see was a portion of the road and the large English oak tree, still vibrant with life. She didn't want to go wandering off and get lost, so she decided to stay where she was and try to figure out who she was instead.  
She looked at her clothes in the hope that they may offer some clues. She wore a large black cloak that she hugged to herself, black trousers and black shiny boots. Not a lot of clues there, she thought, unless I've just been to a funeral. She removed the cloak so she could see what else she was wearing. She found that the trousers were attached to the top, which was also black in parts but with blue arms and front- and back she presumed; though she could not see. The neckline was quite high with blue braid around it and three gold pips on the right hand side. Strange, she said to herself, I've obviously not been to a funeral; this must be some sort of a uniform, but for what purpose? She noticed a gold badge that stood out against the blue on the left-hand side of her chest. It was a type of delta symbol that was linked at the bottom with an upward curve, and surrounded by an oval. She touched it, admiring it slightly and knowing that it was something she was proud of, it made a chirping noise but nothing more. "Well, I'm obviously part of some sort of organisation, though what, I'm not sure."  
She looked down to her waist and found a hand sized grey box, which she took from its holster. "My tricorder," she said pleased that she finally recognised something, but how did she know this? Yet more puzzling questions that she could not answer at this time.  
She opened up the device revealing twinkling lights, and turned it so that it was facing away from her. She pressed a few buttons and moved it up and down a few times, at a distance of about ten centimeters from her body. It made a whirring sort of noise, and once it finished, she turned it back around and deciphered its readings. "B.P normal, pulse rate normal, temperature 36.9 degrees celcius," she looked up. "Everything checks out I guess." She put the tricorder back in its holster and wrapped the cloak around her again.  
She thought about how she might get out of her immediate problem, which was to determine who she was. The rain splashed down on her face again, and she moved back under the tree and sat down on the bench. "Wait a minute. This definitely was not here before. What's happening?" Though she did not understand how it got there or why it was there, it was a very welcome sight since she had been standing for hours, so she sat, made herself comfortable and thought some more.  
After a few minutes she decided that she would use her tricorder again, scan her brain wave patterns- that she knew were unique to every person, and cross reference the data with the tricorder- she also knew that the tricorder carried all of the information she needed to determine who she was, via cross referencing the data she collected, with the medical records it contained in it's memory. How she knew all of this though was beyond her at this point.  
A few minutes later she finished the scan and began using the data to formulate an answer as to who she was. The small computer finished compiling the information it was given and then came up with the answer. The woman looked down and read the screen. "Results show positive indications that this person is Dr. Beverly Crusher." It clicked into place, she remembered who she was now but there were so many unanswered questions.  
Everything went dark again as the storm broke, and the fog began to clear, as she began to remember. 


	2. chapter 1

Chapter One  
  
"Beverly... Beverly? Can you hear me?" Picard asked, shaking her shoulder slightly for any response. He waited for a second, hoping that there would be some sign of recognition but nothing came. He stepped back from the bio-bed and moved over to where Data was standing. He looked back over towards Crusher, lying there, as still as anything he had seen, and with a blue space blanket pulled up to her chest. He spoke to Data who also had turned to look at Crusher. "Commander, I want a full report of what happened down on that planet. I want a full investigation, leave no stone unturned, and I want it as soon as possible. She needs our help." He said gesturing towards his Chief Medical Officer.  
"Aye, sir. I will beam down to the planet with an investigation team." Data caught sight of Lieutenant Jones, one of the ships' medical technicians who possessed skills in exotic viruses, and stepped over to where he was working, near Dr. Crusher's bio-bed and where she lay motionless, inert and unresponsive. "Lieutenant. You are required to accompany me on an away mission." He said catching Jones's attention.  
"Shhh!" Data looked at the lieutenant puzzled as he held one finger over his lips and made a noise. "Commander, please keep your voice down." Jones said in a hushed voice.  
"Why?" Data whispered back. Jones immediately regretted saying anything at all.  
"Just because it's the right thing to do, that's all, Commander." Data nodded but by the slightly puzzled expression on his face, he clearly did not understand.  
"Why is it the right thing to do, Mr. Jones?"  
"Because Dr. Crusher is seriously ill and has fallen into a coma, and it's a sign of respect." The lieutenant said keeping his voice low and getting slightly annoyed at having to explain everything to a so-called 'advanced life form'. Commander Data frequently engaged him in such frivolous conversation in his quest to understand humans better, and it annoyed Jones.  
"Perhaps you are confused, Lieutenant. A coma is a state of deep unconsciousness in which the subject is unrousable and does not respond to stimuli such as pain or voices in a room such as this." Data said trying to explain to the lieutenant. Lieutenant Jones sighed and folded his arms in an impatient manner as the android droned on. "Perhaps you are mistaking being in a coma with simply falling asleep. Sleep is a naturally occurring state of unconsciousness..."  
"Yes, Commander. I know." Jones said trying to cut in and end the lecture, but Data continued unperturbed.  
"... Which is comprised of four stages. Those being Orthodox, where activity of the brain continues but is more rhythmical than when awake and reacts less to outside stimuli, but more than if the patient is in a coma; as in Dr. Crusher's case. Paradoxical sleep is next, where REM and...."  
"Mr. Data." Picard interrupted sharply to Jones's relief.  
"Yes, sir?" Data said stopping in mid sentence and turning to give the captain his full attention as he moved closer to the android.  
"Commander. I'm sure that Lieutenant Jones knows all of what you are lecturing him on..."  
Jones nodded.  
"Lecturing, sir? I was not aware that I was lecturing anyone. I was simply stating that a coma and sleep are..."  
"Data, you're doing it again." Picard cut in slightly annoyed.  
"Doing what, sir?" Data asked with a slightly puzzled expression on his face.  
"Going off on a side track. Stop. Now, you're supposed to be going down to the planet to carry out an investigation. Please do so now, with no further delay. I need some answers."  
"Yes, sir." He turned to Lieutenant Jones. "Lieutenant, you are with me." He said turning back to Picard. "Excuse me, Captain." Data moved off out of sickbay with Jones in tow.  
"Gladly." Picard sighed as the sickbay doors closed behind them.  
  
Captain Picard moved over to Dr. Selar, a Vulcan doctor that had transferred to the Enterprise from the Lexington, when the Enterprise had first been commissioned. She was a fine doctor that was a true Vulcan in every respect, perfectly logical all of the time. "Dr. Selar. May I have a word with you in private please?" Picard asked as he approached her.  
"Of course, Captain." She replied as he moved off into Dr. Crusher's vacant office, Selar followed immediately behind, and waited patiently for him to begin.  
"Doctor. I want to know if Beverly is going to survive. I want to know exactly what is wrong with her and if there is a way to cure whatever it is." Picard sat down in Crusher's chair and faced Selar who remained standing in the middle of the office with her hands draped behind her back.  
"Dr. Crusher, as you already know, is in a coma. We don't know how deep a coma she is in at this time and are not likely to find out any time soon either. The brain is such a complex organ of the body and even with twenty- fourth century medicine, it still is not fully understood. I believe Commander Data is gathering information from the planet as to how this may have happened, is he not?" She raised an eyebrow at Picard expecting an answer.  
"Yes he is." Picard hated it when Vulcan's did that; it always made him feel inferior somehow.  
"Then would it not be logical to wait for his report before I attempt to evaluate the situation any further, and tell you if she will recover?" Selar asked in her infuriating Vulcan way.  
"It would be prudent of you to tell me everything you can, so that I can pass it onto Mr. Data, Doctor." Picard said a little impatiently; he was upset and didn't need to be discussing logic with a Vulcan right now.  
"That would also be logical, Captain." Selar said turning to the computer console that lay on Dr. Crusher's desk. She flicked a switch and tapped a few buttons and soon Crusher's bio readings were visible to the both of them. "All of Dr. Crusher's readings are quite within the parameters they should be, Captain. Apart from this one," she pointed to a particular wave pattern on the screen. It was quite small and didn't seem to be doing much at all. "This is Dr. Crusher's memory engram pattern, it tells us what is going on in her mind." She traced the pattern with her finger while continuing to explain to Picard. "It is rather suppressed at this time, as you can see but it has spiked three times since she has been unconscious. Each time it does that, her bio readings become very erratic and unstable." She stood up straight again and began pacing back and forth with her hands still draped behind her back.  
"The type of pattern is what one might expect from someone suffering with amnesia but this would not result in her being in a coma. It is strange though that this type of engram wave pattern should be seen only at certain times. All of the research done on comas over the past few centuries suggest that the memories are the only active part of the brain when a patient is in a coma, and so the pattern should be much more pronounced than this. Without it, there may be no hope of recovery." She paused, letting it sink in before continuing. "Dr. Crusher is in with a chance if the patterns keep re-surfacing but as I said, when it happens she becomes unstable."  
"You can't live with certain memories and you can't live without them." Picard stated more to himself than Selar. "Is there any way to tell how deep a coma she is in at all?"  
"No, Captain there is not. Maybe Counsellor Troi would be of more help to you at this time. There is one other doctor that I would recommend who is an expert on neurology though." Selar said, stopping in the middle of the room and facing Picard once more.  
"And that is?" Picard asked expectant.  
"Dr. Julian Bashir. I believe he is stationed on Deep space Nine at present."  
"Yes he is." Picard sighed for the hundredth time that day. "Is there anything else you can do for her?"  
"Captain we are doing all we can at this time. Treatment for a coma is for the underlying condition and then complete rest until the patient comes out of it. At this time we don't know what the underlying condition is though." She paused for a second. "I believe Dr. Bashir has been working on some sort of theory on how to bring someone out of a coma but I have no idea as to how far he is with it. I suggest that Counsellor Troi try to help and that you contact DS9, there is nothing more we can do, Captain."  
Picard nodded to her. "Thank you, Doctor. I will do as you suggest immediately." He got up and exited the office with a new purpose in mind.  
  
A/N: Please leave a review. Thanks 


	3. chapter 2

Chapter Two  
  
It had been one hour since Commander Data and his team had beamed down to the planet, Picard hadn't received a report from him as yet and wasn't expecting one for at least another hour. Data was very thorough though and quite literally would not leave a stone unturned. If he found something of any weight, he would inform the captain immediately.  
Picard was sitting on the bridge doing nothing inparticular apart from go over the last few days in his head, to see if there was anything that he had missed, something that might help with Beverly's recovery. He got up and went into his ready room, notifying Lieutenant Worf that he had the bridge.  
Picard entered the room and the doors swooshed closed behind him, blocking out the view of the bridge. He went over to the replicator and ordered his usual, "tea, Earl Grey, hot." He took the steaming cup of perfumed brown liquid and walked over to his desk to sit down, he thought better of it and turned towards his couch, finding the need for comfort.  
He sat holding the cup in his hand and looked out of the window into the vastness of space, hoping that the answers he was seeking would be out among the stars, and if he looked long enough, he might find them.  
He sat thinking. What had happened over the last few days? The Enterprise had been assigned to the Grizean star system to search for the starship Washington, which had gone missing about a week earlier. Starfleet had assigned the Enterprise to the task since it was the only starship near that particular part of space. The research vessel Cumberland was to follow and would be in range within three days, to help with the search.  
The Washington's mission was to search for any type of a wormhole or other spatial anomaly that might be in the area, in the hope of getting some information on what might have happened to the starship Voyager. Voyager had been lost for two months now and the last reported location was in the Badlands near Bajor. The search had been concentrated in that area for quite sometime now but new evidence had suggested that the ship might have been knocked off course, and sent to this area of space known as the Grizean star system. So the Washington had been searching for anything "strange," and had followed a very faint warp signature that was degrading very rapidly. The signature had led them to a planet in the system that had not been there before- meaning that it had never been discovered, and not that it had just appeared out of thin air- or space.  
The Washington's captain, Captain Arron, had sent a communiqué back to Starfleet with the information on the new star system that they had discovered, and about the warp signature they had been following.  
Each ship that was capable of warp had it's own particular warp signature, distinguishing it from other ships that may have been in that vicinity. Voyager, being a new ship and on it's maiden voyage, had some of the most advanced technology in the Federation. Including a complete overhaul of the engines and incorporation of bio-neural gel packs, instead of isolinear chips; that ships like the Enterprise and the other Galaxy class starships used- so their warp signature was very unique indeed.  
Captain Arron had found the warp signature and it looked remarkably like that of the starship Voyager's, he had been following it but it was becoming increasingly more difficult as it degraded further. He had said that they would be in that area of space for a few more hours and said that they would be in contact with Starfleet then. That was four days ago. Captain Arron had not been in contact with Starfleet again after that and Starfleet had tried to contact him but without any success. That was when they had contacted Picard on the Enterprise, and sent him off to see what had happened to the Washington.  
The Enterprise had arrived at the Grizean system and had found the Washington's warp signature. Picard had tried to contact the Washington by sending out communiqués on all Starfleet channels, but to no avail. Data had scanned the area of space and determined that the nearby star was giving out excess amounts of solar radiation that would be blocking out all communication channels. Picard had ordered Worf to drop a buoy, to inform the Cumberland of the situation when they arrived. Worf had also been instructed to work with La Forge on finding a way to use the communications systems by cutting through the radiation field.  
As the Enterprise had gone further into the sector, the radiation levels were increasing, and the shields had come up automatically to stop the crew from suffering the effects of radiation sickness. But it was just a matter of time before the shields failed and if the Washington's shields had failed, and the crew had been exposed to radiation poisoning, there was no hope for them.  
Picard had instructed Dr. Crusher to prepare sickbay for excess casualties the minute they found the Washington. The Enterprise had been on yellow alert, as was standard procedure in these sorts of circumstances. The sickbays in the saucer section and engineering section had been prepared and one of the shuttle bays had been converted into a make shift hospital. The crew complement of the Washington was four hundred and seventy four and the Enterprise needed to be ready for all of them.  
As the Enterprise had gone further into the sector they had discovered a nebula that was forming from the particles and gas molecules that were emanating from the star. They moved into it in the hope that they may find the Washington. The nebula became thicker and denser as they moved further into it- something to be expected. What wasn't expected was the planet that was on the inside of it, not void of all life as one might have expected in the radiation filled area of space, but teaming with it instead. Worf had scanned the planet and found that it contained plant life and small insects but no higher order of life other than that. Worf had also scanned the surrounding nebula and had came to the conclusion that any attempt to cut through it with communications would be futile, and there was no way around it. La Forge had agreed and so Picard had told them to abandon that particular task.  
They scanned the planet for radiation levels and found them to be within normal parameters as would be expected on Earth. This surprised Picard since the Enterprise was still on alert with the amount of radiation that was bombarding the ship. Picard had ordered the planet to be scanned more thoroughly before he sent anyone down to investigate in person. Worf had been assigned that task and before long he came back with the results. Picard had taken the pad with the results from Worf and read it. Radiation levels were normal and tolerable to human life, the planet was not unlike Earth at all except that only one sixth of it was covered by water, and no higher forms of life were alive down there. Something caught Picard's eye though, a metallic substance had been detected, it was duranium the material that the hulls of starships were made out of. This had unnerved Picard and he hoped that it wasn't the Washington or Voyager, but he couldn't be certain and the sensors were now also being effected by the radiation build up to get another clear scan.  
Picard ordered Riker to take an away team down to the planet and he had left immediately with Data and Worf in tow. The team had met in the shuttle bay, as the transporters would have been inoperable. Dr. Crusher and Commander La Forge had joined them and they got into the shuttlecraft and headed for the planet. After a rather bumpy ride and landing the team got out of the shuttlecraft and recorded the preliminary readings of their surroundings.  
The weather was quite pleasant and bright, though there was no source of light from the sun, since the nebula that surrounded the planet was blocking it out. Life was quite abundant on the planet and the trees and foliage were thick and green. Insects buzzed about the away team annoyingly as they tried to discover whom the new "intruders" were. The away team spread out a bit, scanning with their tricorders as they walked slowly around the shuttle. Riker picked up the metallic structure that they had detected on board the Enterprise, and he and his team headed towards it. As they got closer they discovered that it was in fact a shuttlecraft, and the markings on it indicated that it was from the Washington. The away team rushed over to see if there were any survivors but when they got there they found that the pilot and co-pilot were both dead. Riker determined that the shuttle had crash-landed and obviously weren't as fortunate as his team had been. He instructed Crusher and Data to take the two dead crewmen back to their shuttle and back to the Enterprise. Data was instructed to return with the shuttle to pick up the rest of the away team.  
Data and Crusher had left immediately and went back to the Enterprise while the rest of the away team searched the planet and shuttlecraft for any other information they might need. Data returned about half an hour later and they all went back to the Enterprise.  
Dr. Crusher had informed the captain of what they had found and had notified him that she had recovered the two crewmembers and had them in the morgue. She had said that she was about to perform autopsies on the two of them within the hour.  
Picard had gone down to sickbay before she started, to ask what species they were, just incase their cultures forbade their bodies to be touched after death- as some did. When he arrived he got a report from her of what the away team had found and that she had recovered two crewmembers, and that they were in the morgue. Picard had a sense of deja-vous, except that she had told him that before. "Beverly. Are you alright?" He had asked out of genuine concern.  
"Yes, perfectly. Why do you ask?" She had questioned innocently.  
"Because you have already given me that report, that's why." He had said.  
"Are you sure Jean-Luc? I don't remember." She had said back to him.  
"Maybe it is just deja-vous." He had replied moving onto the next topic. "Have you determined what species the crewmen are?"  
"Yes, both are human." She had said pointing over to where the crewmen lay. Picard looked over the bodies briefly with sadness that the crewmen had lost their lives like that, cut down in their prime.  
"Very well then, I suppose you had better get on with it then." Picard had left then and went back up to the bridge leaving Beverly to do the autopsies. He had recorded a captain's log then and brought it up to date with what had been discovered so far.  
When the away team had returned, and Beverly had finished Picard called for a meeting in the conference lounge. The meeting began with the away team's report on what the planet had to offer and how the shuttle had crashed. All of Riker's report was fine and nothing strange was found or needed to be rechecked. Except for the fact that a shuttle from the Washington had been found and the "mother ship" wasn't in sight. Picard turned to Beverly and asked for her report. She informed the captain that they had the two crew members in the morgue and that she was going to perform an autopsy on each of them as soon as possible. Picard had interrupted her at that point, pointing out that it was the third time she had told him that.  
"Are you alright, Beverly?" He had asked for the second time that morning.  
"Yes, perfectly. Why do you ask?" She had asked again.  
"You have given me that report three times now, Doctor, and when I left you in sickbay you were just starting the autopsies. Are you telling me you haven't done them yet?"  
"I'm sorry, Captain. But when were you in sickbay?" Crusher asked. Troi glanced over at her becoming concerned because she could sense that both of them were telling the truth as they remembered it.  
"I came down when you came back from the planet, I wanted to make sure..." He trailed off slightly. "You don't remember do you?" Troi looked across the conference table from one to the other again.  
"No. I don't," was the simple reply. The rest of the bridge crew shifted uncomfortably around the table.  
"Perhaps you need to get some sleep, Doctor." Picard said to her.  
"Perhaps," she said as way of a reply.  
"Dismissed." Picard said getting up from the conference table. "Doctor, get some sleep and give me the report this evening. Can we re-assemble at eighteen hundred hours please." They all left the conference lounge and Beverly went off to sickbay to do the autopsies.  
  
One hour had passed and Beverly rang the door chime at the door to Picard's quarters. He replied; "come." She entered immediately and saw that Picard was sitting in a chair reading a book. "Beverly. I thought I told you to get some sleep?" Picard said putting the book down the moment he saw her.  
She entered his quarters with a puzzled expression on her face. "Did you? When? Never mind, Jean-Luc. Here's that autopsy report you wanted." She handed him a pad and he read over it.  
"Just the one?" He had asked slightly confused.  
"How many dead people are in the morgue, Jean-Luc?" She asked sarcastically.  
"Two." He replied confidently.  
"Two? You're mistaken, Jean-Luc." She replied with equal confidence on her part.  
"Then one of the shuttle craft's crew survived? You didn't tell me this." Picard started to get up out of the chair and stood in front of Beverly.  
"There was only one crew member, Jean-Luc. I can't just magic up another one out of thin air, and what's this about you telling me to sleep? I don't re..."  
"Beverly, something's wrong. Picard to sickbay." He said tapping the badge on his chest and straightening his uniform. "Medical emergency in my quarters."  
"Yes, Captain. On my way." Was the response from one of the doctors on duty. Beverly looked at Picard puzzled.  
"Jean-Luc, if you're sick you could have asked me. I am the CMO after all."  
"It's not me that's ill, Beverly. Now please sit down, don't do anything until the medical team get here." She began to get very anxious and obviously she felt that something was wrong as well. She bolted out of Picard's quarters and down the corridor almost hitting the medical team as they rushed along towards the captain's quarters. Dr. Selar asked Crusher what she was doing as she ran past.  
"Medical emergency," she said as she ran. The medical team started to rush along again as Selar's comm badge chirped.  
"Selar here."  
"Doctor, Beverly is ill and has just ran out of my quarters. I have no idea what is going on but she can't remember anything and is acting very strangely."  
"She's just ran past us saying something about another emergency. We'll go after her. Selar out." The team about turned and moved back down the corridor. Selar asked the computer where Crusher was.  
"Dr. Crusher is on deck eight section fourteen-B, port side." Not far from where the team was now, they moved a bit quicker and after a few seconds Selar asked the computer where Crusher was again, she got the same response meaning that either Beverly had not moved or she had taken her comm badge off and dumped it. The team reached Beverly's location and found her lying slumped on the floor unconscious.  
They had taken her to sickbay and notified the captain. Picard had gone straight there to see if there was anything that he could do. That brought him up to the present and he still wasn't sure of what he could do to help.  
Dr. Selar had carried out numerous tests but there was nothing that she had picked up from the planet, no viruses were detected and she hadn't eaten anything that she wouldn't normally. Commander La Forge had fully scanned the Enterprise for any air born viruses or particles that could have caused something like this, but everything checked out okay, and if there were anything like that, Beverly wouldn't be the only person suffering.  
Picard sipped his tea but found it had gone cold and unappealing, he set the cup down and stood up. How long had he been sitting there? "Computer, what is the time please."  
"The time is fourteen thirty seven hours, Federation standard time." He had been sitting for a good half-hour. Surely Data must have a report for him by now? He straightened his uniform with a tug and left his ready room stepping out onto the bridge.  
Riker had come up onto the bridge to start his duty shift and was sitting in the captain's chair. He rose a bit bewildered.  
"Sorry, Captain. I had no idea you were in your ready room. I thought you had gone to get some sleep." It was true that Picard was off duty at that moment but he couldn't sleep knowing that Beverly was in trouble. "Commander Data just reported in but I told him you were unavailable."  
"That's alright, Number One. Please tell me what he has found." Picard said, moving over to the command chair.  
"Well he's scanned the immediate area of the planet that Dr. Crusher was exposed to and hasn't come up with anything abnormal. Lieutenant Jones said that if it was some sort of tropical virus then it was likely that there was only one down there that she might have picked up. Apparently the more exotic the virus, the more likely they are to kill each other off- if they're placed near each other. And if it is some sort of a virus we might not be able to detect it. I've told the away team to come back now and try to design a scanner that's going to pick up anything that ours don't. Their shuttle should be arriving soon." Picard sat down in his chair and Riker followed suit.  
"Very well, Commander. Thank you."  
"Are you alright, sir?" Riker asked looking at his captain's vacant expression.  
"Yes, fine, Number One. I'm just worried that's all. I've known Beverly for such a long time and I don't know what I would do if anything happened to her."  
"Perhaps you should go and rest, Captain. I have the bridge this watch and I can inform you if anything occurs." Riker said trying to look out for Picard's best interests.  
"Trying to get rid of me, Number One?" Picard asked in mock annoyance.  
"No, sir but there really is no point in you being up here."  
"I have a few more things to do before I retire. Where is Counsellor Troi at present?"  
"I believe she has an appointment at the moment in her office." Picard got up from his chair. "Where are you going, sir?"  
"I'm going to find out if the counsellor can help Dr. Crusher then I'm going to speak with Dr. Selar, she should have a report for me. Then I'm going to my quarters to get some sleep. You have the bridge, Number One, we'll postpone that meeting until we have something solid to talk about." Picard left the bridge and Riker took the command chair once again.  
  
A/N: Please leave a review. Thanks. 


	4. chapter 3

Chapter Three  
  
She woke up on the bench under the oak tree, in the garden. She stretched and sat up looking about her slightly disoriented. The sun had come out and the storm had long gone, as if it had never been there at all. She yawned, wondering how long she had been asleep and looked up to see that the sun was directly above her; which meant that it was late in the afternoon. Suddenly it dawned on her that she was supposed to be meeting her friends from the Academy. She leapt to her feet and took a moment to become orientated; looking about and realising that she had fallen asleep in the gardens near her home in San Francisco.  
She stepped out from under the tree and looked up towards the blue sky again with it's billowing white clouds, it was quite hot and she took off the jacket she was wearing- funny she had sworn she was wearing a Starfleet uniform and black cloak. Maybe she had dreamt it, not to worry she was going to be late if she didn't hurry- and that simply wouldn't do.  
She moved off down the road that led out onto the main street, which ran along the riverbank. Various buildings were lined along one side over looking the river. These buildings had been converted into apartments and were owned by Starfleet, and were lived in by the first year cadets of Starfleet Academy. They had been built on the site of the old train station and tracks of the twenty-first century, and the shipyards; for sailing ships that was- not space ships.  
She came to the end of the block and turned right into a side street, then walked further up the street and turned right again into a large entranceway to one of the apartments- the one that she lived in. The apartments were a sort of sandstone in colour with a very modern design to them. Her apartment was brand new and had recently been refurbished with lots of new gadgets and equipment. She lived in a two bedroomed apartment and had one other person living with her. There were also five more apartments in the building, making a total of three upstairs and three down. She ran up a few stairs and entered her apartment at the beginning of the long corridor on the first floor. Her roommate Kathleen Hunter was sitting on the couch and didn't look too happy with her. Beverly dropped her jacket on the floor and walked straight past Kathleen.  
"Beverly Howard. If I have to tell you once more I'm going to scream!" She said, clearly annoyed.  
"What?" Beverly asked rushing into her room to get changed.  
"If you're going to survive in Starfleet you're going to have to be a bit more punctual than this. It won't do to have you late when an emergency has been called, it could result in deaths..."  
"Alright, Kathy. I'm here now. I fell asleep that's all." She said sighing and trying to think of any excuse that would work, Kathy was always going on at her these days, she was obsessed with promptness and neatness. Kathy was a tall slender woman with dark brown, shoulder length hair, and was very fit indeed. She liked everything just so and was quite house- proud. Beverly had seemed to be completely incompatible as a room mate when they had first moved in together, but Kathy was the kind of person to get along with everyone and chose to clean up Beverly's mess all of the time as well as her own.  
"And why did you fall asleep? Because you were out for most of the night, you had me worried sick! Where were you this time, Beverly?" She demanded standing outside of Beverly's room with her hands on her hips and shouting through the door. Beverly re-appeared, changed into something more casual, after all she was only going to meet one of Walker's friends.  
"Me? I was rehearsing for the dance competition in St. Louis, I can't afford not to it's in a few weeks and you know how important this is to me, Kathy." She paused and took a deep breath continuing to try and explain. "Please don't go on. You know I have to be the best in order to win first place in jazz and tap, the competition will be very strong." Beverly walked past Kathleen and into the kitchen to get a drink of orange from the replicator.  
"Are your exams as important? You know they're in a few weeks as well." God, she was beginning to sound like her Grandmother.  
"Yes of course they're as important, if I don't pass these I can forget about getting into medical school next year. Please don't go on." She asked again but Kathy would not let up, which was partly Beverly's fault. She took a gulp of her orange and went back into the sitting area as Kathy picked up Beverly's jacket and folded it neatly.  
"You'll do good to remember that from time to time then." Kathleen walked over to Beverly- who was just sitting down, and grabbed the juice off her. Putting the glass down on the coffee table she pulled Beverly back up to a standing position. "Come on, we're already late. Walker's not going to be very happy and he said he wants you to meet someone, and being late isn't a very good..."  
"First impression, right." She finished what Kathleen was saying. "Come on then." They both left their apartment and headed for the transporter to take them to the small cafe across town- it would be a lot quicker than walking the whole distance, or taking a shuttle for that matter.  
Kathy and Beverly had been roommates for nearly a year now and both were good friends. Kathy kept Beverly on her toes and stopped her from going a little off the tracks, as she seemed to do occasionally, and Beverly helped Kathy with her confidence, which lead her to constantly nag Beverly. Was it a mistake she kept asking herself, to teach her friend what she had to put up with herself- which was to open her mouth and speak what she felt without thinking about it first? Her 'smart mouth;' as one or two of her instructors had called it, had got her into trouble on more than one occasion.  
A few months ago Beverly had introduced Kathy to one of her best friends, Walker Keel. The minute they had met they had hit it off like a spark and had been seeing quite a bit of each other lately, which was doing wonders for Kathy's confidence- she was like another person entirely.  
They were off to meet Walker Keel and a friend of his who he thought Beverly should meet- he was always trying to be a matchmaker. Beverly was a little bit nervous about meeting someone new in a social way; she had no problem if they were injured or if it was strictly professional because she would be in control then. That actually seemed silly to have a lack of confidence since she was an actress and a dancer, as well as a potential medical student but that was the way it was, and she couldn't help it.  
They got to the transporter at the Academy and were transported across to the other side of town immediately, and to the cafe where they were supposed to meet Walker- and friend. They moved into the cafe to look for them but they weren't there. "See, we've missed them now. Walker's going to think I stood him up and God knows what his friend is going to think." Kathy whined as they both looked around the cafe. It was quite small inside and only seated around thirty people at a time but a lot of seats were out on the patio. The weather was usually quite warm in San Francisco and so most people chose the sit outside anyway.  
"Well, we've wasted too many transporter tokens getting here just to go back home now, we may as well stay and have a coffee at least. And stop whining will you, Walker's not that stupid and he knows what I'm like with punctuality. Maybe they've got stuck somewhere as well and are late because of it."  
They ordered two cups of coffee and sat at a table out on the patio since it was such a lovely evening that was just setting in. They had been to the cafe numerous times over the last year; in fact it was the main place where Academy cadets went to unwind, and where Beverly had introduced Kathy to her good friend Walker.  
"I suppose you're right but if he's late then I'm not impressed." She said and Beverly laughed at her.  
"Oh come on now, Kathy. Don't start an...." Just then Walker and friend came around the corner towards them. Walker looked the same as usual, dark haired, very neat and basically a model Starfleet cadet- soon to be ensign. His friend on the other hand was perfect in Beverly's opinion, slightly shorter than Walker, with dark hair, and his eyes... were just so... salubrious- if that was the word for it. Kathy and Beverly both stood to greet them, then all four sat down- Beverly almost fell down as her legs instantly turned to jelly.  
"I'm really sorry for being late, Kathy. My friend here isn't very punctual." Walker said apologising and slapping his friend on the shoulder. Beverly smiled inwardly trying not to stare at Walker's friend- he was really quite handsome.  
"That makes two of them then, Walker." Kathy said laughing.  
"Right, we all know what Beverly's like for time keeping." Walker said smiling at her and knowing that she was getting embarrassed. "Well let me introduce you to Cadet First Class Jack Crusher. Jack this is my healthy side kick Kathleen Hunter, whom I told you about," he held out his hand to her and she knocked it away in mock annoyance. "And her room mate Beverly... What's your second name again, Bev?"  
"Walker, how long have we known each other?" Beverly asked though she knew he was just joking with her.  
"Of course, Howard. Beverly Howard."  
"Pleased to meet you Jack." Beverly said staring at him, caught by his dark eyes and unwilling to try to escape. She held out her hand and he shook it gently.  
"Nice to finally meet you in person, Beverly. I've heard so much about you. Pleased to meet you also Kathy." Jack said to each of them.  
"Jack." She greeted in return. A waiter came over to the table and Jack ordered coffee for himself and Walker, Kathy and Beverly still had theirs. "How did you two meet?" Kathy asked Walker.  
"Jack's graduating from the Academy this year but we're on several teams together, so he's a lot older than me but still single, and we're room mates." He said looking at Beverly.  
"Walker! Don't embarrass me like that," Beverly protested. "And he's not that much older than you, only two years."  
"Why thank you, Miss. Howard. Walker has a way of making you feel comfortable doesn't he?" Jack said sarcastically. His piercing personality and sense of humor, his charm, wit and good looks to top it all immediately caught Beverly. He hadn't said much so far but she just knew they were going to get along fine, quite fine.  
"He sure does, he's been doing it most of his life." Beverly replied, the feeling of nervousness slowly going away from her.  
"How long have you known Walker, Beverly?" Jack asked.  
"Please call me Bev, it's a lot easier," Jack nodded. "Walker and I have known each other since high school, we were in each others classes for a time and lived right next door to each other for most of our childhood."  
"Bev's still single," Walker said cutting in and nudging Jack at the same time. Beverly went bright red.  
"Walker, you know how she gets around new people." Kathy said, Beverly went a shade redder and gave Kathy a look as if to say, you really didn't have to mention that.  
"Well they both have one thing in common at least, neither of them are very good time keepers." Walker said chuckling.  
"Alright you guys, stop match making."  
"Oh, I was quite enjoying it, weren't you, Bev?" Jack asked staring at her as if for the first time.  
"Well, I believe in.... Are we just going to sit here all night?" She asked drinking the last mouthful of coffee.  
"No, we're not. I'm sorry it's such a short meeting but we have exams coming up and really must get going home." Kathy replied. Beverly knocked her arm and whispered to her.  
"Kath, that's not very polite."  
"No but you were out late last night and you have to get studying."  
"Nag, nag, nag." Beverly said under her breath, Jack heard and smiled.  
"Say what you want, Bev but you know I'm right, and I'm just looking out for your interests." Kathy told her.  
"Alright," she said getting up from the table and holding her hands up in surrender. "Sorry, we have to go. See you again Walker and nice to have met you, Jack. I hope I see you around Starfleet sometime."  
"Wait we'll walk you back to your apartment, it's getting dark." Jack offered.  
"Okay, that'll be good." Beverly said a little too quickly and felt a bit embarrassed for it.  
"Great." They all got up and Walker and Kathy held hands setting off immediately and walking along without a care in the world.  
"Well, that's nice of them just leaving us like that." Jack sighed, "I hope you know the way."  
"Of course I do, I've lived here for a year." They started to walk along.  
"So where are you originally from, Bev?"  
"I was born in Copernicus City, it's a lunar colony. I lived there when I was little, which is when I lived near to Walker. Unfortunately my mother and father died when I was young and I moved to the Arvada Three colony where I lived with my grandmother for a time."  
"Really? I was born in Ohio, it's not very interesting though."  
"No, go on, I want to hear." The truth was that she actually loved the sound of his voice, it was so soft and capturing.  
"Well I was raised in Ohio, went to school there. I lived with my parents in the city, my father is in Starfleet and my mother is a scientist in a civilian medical laboratory. I graduated the Academy high school and was accepted to the command school here in San Francisco, which is where I am today." They walked along in silence for a bit taking in the sunset as they walked along the river and over the Golden Gate Bridge. "So, what do you want to do when you graduate?" She expected that he already knew since Walker had told him a great deal about her- apparently, but she decided to tell him anyway, just to keep the conversation going.  
"I always wanted to be an actress and dancer when I was little but when I moved to the Arvada colony to live with my grandmother, she taught me all about homeopathic medicine, and I became interested in that. That's why I'm going to medical school next year and then, well who knows what then, hopefully a starship or space station. Anything to get me away from planets and out into the great unknown." Beverly said looking up at the darkening sky and the stars that were beginning to poke through.  
"That's exactly why I joined Starfleet, I love challenges and the sense of command, being out there in control of a starship." The night was rapidly drawing in and the temperature was dropping now that the sun had gone in. Beverly shivered involuntarily- or was it. Jack was trying to create a good impression after all, and since he didn't have a coat it was his duty to try and keep her warm. "Are you cold, Beverly?" He asked and she nodded as she shivered again. "I'm sorry I don't have a coat to offer you." He was actually still in his cadets' uniform, apparently he hadn't had time to change.  
"That's alright, Jack." She said slightly disappointed.  
"You could put your arm around me if you like, I'm actually quite warm." She jumped at the chance and did exactly as he suggested. He put his arm around her as well and she felt a lot better knowing that he was close to her. "It's because we're close to the sea here, the temperature always drops in the evening when the sun's gone in." They walked for a short time without speaking. "Where do you live anyway, Beverly?"  
"River Walk Campus down by the park." She told him smiling and feeling a bit guilty as he figured it out.  
"Well that's not far from where we were and yet it seems to have taken ages to walk."  
"We came the long way, Jack." She admitted.  
"Oh." Was his reply, well what had she expected him to say.  
"Where do you and Walker live?" She asked trying to turn the conversation back to him before he asked her why they had gone the long way.  
"We're based on the main campus of the Academy command school, it's a lot easier to get to classes without having to use the transporter. Even first class cadets don't get that many transporter credits."  
"Yes, I know what you mean. I hope to be moving into the medical school campus soon but at the moment, we are quite a walk from the Academy itself. At least it keeps you fit though, which is something I especially need to do at the moment."  
"Why is that then?" Jack asked interested, there weren't a great deal of fitness tests on around exam time.  
"I'm a dancer, tap, ballet and jazz. I've got a competition in St. Louis coming up in a few weeks." Beverly explained.  
"Really? That's great. I can't dance a step actually. Maybe you could teach me, it's always a useful thing to have." He said turning slightly to her to see her reaction, she smiled and looked directly at him.  
"If you're serious I'd love to." She replied smiling, it meant that she would get to spend some more time with him.  
"Sure." They came to her apartment and found Walker and Kathy waiting for them.  
"What took you two so long?" Walker asked immediately suspicious.  
"We just walked slowly, it was rather pleasant." Was Jack's short defensive reply to his friend.  
"Right come on, Jack, let's let these two ladies get some studying done." Walker kissed Kathy goodnight and moved over to Jack. Jack gave Beverly a quick peck on the cheek.  
"This is a surprise, Jack. You're a fast mover when you want to be." Walker said making Jack immediately uncomfortable again.  
"Well goodnight then, Bev. I'll see you again?" Jack asked staring into her eyes and holding her gaze easily enough.  
"Yes, certainly. Just contact me and let me know when you want those lessons."  
"I will definitely do that, soon. Goodnight." He said walking backwards away from her and then turning to Walker. "Do you have to do that, Walker?"  
"Do what, Jack?" He asked mischievously.  
"You know perfectly well what."  
"Goodnight Jack, Walker." Walker and Jack went off and Beverly and Kathy went inside.  
"I'm in love," Beverly announced flopping onto her bed. "He's adorable."  
"You've only just met him." Kathleen sat at her desk sorting the padds containing her study notes out.  
"Yes, I know. Isn't it great though? He wants me to give him dancing lessons, and I've learned so much about him already. He's perfect, amazing, wonderful, indescribable, the best."  
"That's what you said about Marc English." Kathy replied seriously.  
"Yes but Jack is so different, I just know he's right." Beverly said, propping herself up on one arm and looking at Kathy round the door.  
"I thought you would like him. Just don't go rushing into anything though, and remember that we have exams."  
"Exams, exams, exams. Is there nothing else in your life?" Beverly asked sitting herself up on the bed.  
"Well of course there is, I just don't let him interfere." She replied curtly.  
"Yes but Jack wouldn't be interfering." Beverly retaliated.  
"Just go slowly for a bit, Bev. That's all I'm asking, now go to sleep or get some studying done, I want to get some of this work out of the way."  
"Oh how can I sleep after meeting my soul mate? How can I ever do anything?" Beverly asked her.  
"I really don't care, Bev. Do anything you want, just so long as it's quiet."  
"Goodnight then, Kathy." Beverly said, "Oh, Kathy. Why did you let me go out to meet him dressed like this?" She asked as she got changed into her bedclothes.  
"Would you have changed if I had told you to?" Kathleen asked, knowing what the answer would be.  
"Probably not. Goodnight." She said as she tried to sleep and dream about Jack Crusher.  
  
A/N: Please leave a review. Thanks. 


	5. chapter 4

Chapter Four  
  
Picard pressed the door chime to Counsellor Troi's office, he had wanted to come by and speak to her about Beverly. "Come in please," she said and the door swooshed open revealing the counsellor sitting on her couch, reading a pad. Picard stepped in and the door closed behind him. "Captain, this is a nice surprise. You've just caught me at a good time actually, Ensign Rollins has just left." She smiled at him but could see that he was weighed down heavily with the burden he was carrying.  
"I wanted to speak with you, Counsellor." Picard said moving over to a chair and taking a seat opposite her.  
"If you had told me I would have come to you, you didn't need to come all the way down here, Captain." She was always trying to put herself out for others and since she knew how busy the captain usually was, she was only too happy to see him in his ready room or elsewhere. "I had sensed that you were deeply troubled though, but I respect your privacy," she continued.  
"Yes, thank you for that, Counsellor. And I really don't mind coming to your office for a change. It's a change of scenery." He chuckled softly. Picard sat down on the couch opposite Troi and paused for a second before speaking. "I wanted to speak to you about Beverly."  
"Yes I know. Dr. Selar informed me that you might be coming down."  
"Did she? Well... there is nothing that the doctor can do for Beverly, there is no known way to bring a patient out of a coma. Dr. Selar thinks that Dr. Bashir may be able to help us but we have no way to contact him while we are in this area of space, and I believe as does the doctor, that she needs help now.  
"Beverly isn't in a normal type of coma, apparently her brain wave patterns aren't what they should be, so time is of the essence with regards to her treatment. I however can not take the Enterprise out of this vicinity until we have found the Washington. So what am I to do?" He paused and then answered his own question. "Well I can only think of one option and that is to ask you if you can contact her somehow... telepathically or by other means." Troi listened intently before answering his suggestion.  
"Yes, I understand what you are saying, Captain. It's certainly worth a try but I feel I should remind you that my telepathy is not very strong since I am only half Betazoid."  
"I realise that, Counsellor but you are one of our last hopes. Data's scans haven't found anything that might be causing this. I have Jones and La Forge working on a way to alter our scanners to pick up anything that we wouldn't normally, and I am considering ordering Commander Riker to take a shuttle to Deep Space Nine and to bring Dr. Bashir here personally."  
"Haven't the away teams been having trouble with piloting the shuttles in the nebula though?" Troi asked, sensing that the captain thought that that was a bad idea.  
"Yes they have, and that is why I'm holding off until you have tried to get through to her. There has already been one shuttle crash and we certainly don't need another."  
"Okay I'll give it a try straight away but I would recommend that you get in contact with Dr. Bashir as soon as possible." Picard nodded and sighed, there was a long silence and the counsellor looked at Picard concerned. "Captain, there's something else isn't there?"  
"Yes. I just feel that it's all my fault somehow, that she is lying there and I can't do anything for her."  
"Captain, you're doing all you can, you can't blame yourself for any of this." She paused for a moment and then added out of the blue, and dredging up something that Picard had never really come to terms with. "This... guilt that your feeling has something to do with Jack Crusher's death, doesn't it?" He looked squarely at her and he slowly began to nod his head, amazed again at how well she could read him.  
"I suppose it does really. If anything happens to her..." He shook his head not knowing how to say what he had always avoided telling himself.  
"You feel that it is your duty to look after her? Look out for her?" Troi pushed.  
"Yes, after Jack died I vowed that I wouldn't let anything happen to her or Wesley."  
"Nothing will happen to her, Captain. I'm sure everything will work out fine. We just need to get through to her and then I'm certain I or the doctors will be able to help." Troi said placing a hand on his and squeezing it in a sympathetic gesture.  
"Yes I'm sure your right, Counsellor." He stood up and turned to leave. "Will you accompany me to sickbay, Counsellor?" She nodded, got up and they both left her office.  
  
Several minutes later they both entered sickbay. Picard and Troi paused at the door to Dr. Crusher's office before going in to speak to Dr. Selar; who was now the acting CMO, and had temporarily taken over the office. Selar rose to her feet at the sight of her two visitors. "Captain, Counsellor." She greeted each with a slight nod of her head. "How can I help you both?"  
"How is Beverly?" Picard asked without hesitation.  
"Dr. Crusher is quite stable now, we had a few minor problems earlier when her brain wave patterns changed, it seemed as though she received a flood of memories all at once and couldn't cope with them. There is no explanation for these changes and her readings deteriorated slightly this time as well. I suggest that we contact Dr. Bashir as soon as possible or she may not survive."  
"I will send Commander Riker immediately but for now, Counsellor Troi said she will see if she can contact her somehow." Picard said looking more grave by the second.  
"Yes, well anything is worth a try at this point, Captain." The Vulcan doctor responded with total composure- for a Vulcan nothing else would do. She turned to Troi, "Counsellor, Dr. Crusher is ready whenever you are." Troi nodded and they all went out into the room where Beverly Crusher lay.  
She looked comfortable lying on the bio-bed with various medical technicians busy taking readings and doing more tests on her. They stopped what they were doing and moved away from the bed as the three of them approached. Troi picked up Crusher's hand and looked down at her best friend, it was as hard for her as it was for Picard. Picard moved over to speak with Troi before she began.  
"Counsellor, I'll leave you in peace but call me if there are any changes at all, no matter how minor. I'm sending Commander Riker to get Dr. Bashir. While he's there he can inform Wesley at the Academy via sub space." Troi nodded and he turned and exited sickbay. Dr. Selar turned also adding that she would monitor from the console at the back of sickbay.  
Troi picked up a seat and brought it over to the bio-bed, she sat down and held Crusher's hand again. She closed her eyes and then reached out with her mind towards the distant faint image of what was once her best friend. When she usually tried to scan someone's brain she felt a lot more power from the subject. A power surrounded by a type of force field, and surface images of what the subject was thinking at the time. To her the surface images were more like half-thoughts since she was an empath and not a true telepath. She had the ability to transfer these images into the emotions that the subject was feeling. It had taken all of her life so far to perfect this technique, and she was happy to help her friend using it, if she could. Unfortunately Beverly's "force field" was very weak and there were no half-thoughts for her to get any readings at all from.  
She opened her eyes and turned towards Dr. Selar. "Doctor, it will be necessary for me to have something that will enhance my telepathic abilities. I can't help Beverly if I don't." Selar looked up from the console.  
"I can give you twenty five milligrams of silosinen, it's the neuro transmitter involved in telepathy." She told her.  
Troi nodded her head. "Yes I know of it."  
"I can't risk giving you anymore though because it will weaken you quite quickly, with you not being used to that level of perception." Troi nodded again as the doctor got up to get the hypospray. "If you start to feel ill I want you stop immediately, Counsellor. I will link you up to a cortical stimulator and run a sub-neural scan while you try to contact her," then she added just to make sure the counsellor understood. "If you push yourself too far your brain will shut itself down and you will end up in a coma as well, and I don't need two comatose patients to deal with right now." Troi nodded again.  
"I understand, Doctor," she said as Selar administered the drug. Troi immediately felt the effects, it was like her whole being had been lifted and her mind had been suddenly slapped awake and flooded with unwanted images from the people around her. She quickly erected a shield to protect her mind, and wondered how strong telepaths like her mother could cope with it all. She waited a few minutes for the drugs to work properly and thought that she better begin straight away. She nodded to Selar who placed the cortical stimulator on Troi's forehead and started the sub-neural scan.  
  
Picard exited from the turbolift and stepped out onto the bridge, Riker immediately vacated the center seat as Picard walked down to the command area. The captain paused and looked at Riker, "Commander. Can I see you in my ready room, please."  
"Certainly, sir." Riker said as he followed Picard into his office. The doors closed and Picard turned to face his first officer.  
"Commander. I want you to go to Deep Space Nine in a shuttle and bring Dr. Bashir here." Riker looked puzzled.  
"Dr. Bashir?"  
"Yes, Commander. Dr. Selar believes he has been working on a way to bring a patient out of a coma, and right about now he is the only hope we have for Beverly. She is rapidly deteriorating, Will, and we haven't got a lot of time. Counsellor Troi is with her now trying to contact her but as she said, she is only half Betazoid and doesn't feel confident with succeeding."  
Will nodded and sighed slightly.  
"Look, Will. I know that it is difficult to pilot a shuttle through that soup out there but we don't have any other choices and you're one of the best pilots we have. I can't risk taking the Enterprise out of the nebula, and risk losing any trail we have leading to the recovery of the Washington. I have to think about the four hundred and seventy four people on that other ship, and while Beverly is one of us, unfortunately she has to come second at the moment. She would be the first to agree if she were here."  
"Yes I know she would, sir. The shuttle will have to be refitted with extra shielding to enable me to exit the nebula safely. The radiation in this area of space is building up and I might not make it otherwise. I'll probably have to stop for repairs at DS9 but should be back within... say eleven hours." Riker said, thinking about his mission.  
"That's fine, Commander, make it so. I'll draw up some orders to relieve Dr. Bashir from duty on the station for the time that we need him. I'll have them ready for your departure. I want you underway within the hour, Commander."  
"Yes, sir. I'll get a team from engineering to refit the shuttle." Picard nodded his head in agreement.  
"Dismissed," he said. Riker turned and exited the ready room.  
  
A/N: Please review. Thanks 


	6. chapter 5

Chapter Five  
  
Counsellor Troi reached out once again with her mind towards the mind of her unconscious friend. Once again there was little to no power there and therefore no images that could be detected- on the surface level that was. But Troi was now capable of much more, thanks to Selar's ministrations. Troi delved deeper into the unconscious realms of Beverly Crusher, and into a part of her mind where she had never been before; in fact she had never been this deep into anyone's mind before except her own of course.  
She detected the power far below the surface of the mind, and she approached it carefully, so as not to alarm Beverly in any way that might make her retreat further back. She peeled back the inner weak barrier at the core of her friends' being so she could take a peak inside, and see if there was anything that she could do. She felt activity inside lined with feelings of turmoil combating some sort of induced restraint, and mixed with repressed sensations that were just beginning to re-surface, out of control. When the subject was at rest the mind was capable of such disorder, and when awake it was usually kept tightly under control, and in this case it was the former of the two.  
Troi saw images deep below that she did not understand but then she hadn't expected to since she had never been capable of this level of perception before. Troi felt powerful now, she could influence her friends' mind and try to help her out of her state. She could but she would not because for complete recovery, Beverly's mind needed to rest and come to terms with the turmoil it was facing now. Troi's task was to figure out why she had fallen into a coma, and to try to restore the emotions and terminate the disruptive feelings that were wreaking havoc in her friends' inner being.  
Troi began to feel something happen within the mind of her friend, more activity and stronger images were beginning to open up and reveal themselves to her but beyond that something dark lay. Something that she could just detect, it was buried very far below the surface and she had no idea what it was. "Well," she thought. "If I'm going to learn anything I should wait and watch." So that is what she did and as if it were some sort of a show, she received images that were very... informative.  
  
Crusher was late for class, again. She felt sure that she would have changed her constant unprepared ways when she had been accepted into medical school. She had tried hard recently to be on time but it was just not working out, there was always something left undone that she had to do before she rushed out to where she was supposed to be. Crusher had been reprimanded a few times for her "anachronistic" manner, as one of her lecturers had put it, but she had never quite sorted herself out, and Kathleen was no longer available to help her.  
Kathleen had been accepted into engineering school and no longer had any classes with Beverly, in fact they very rarely saw each other these days; except for the times when she and Jack ran into her and Walker at the café. The café had turned out to be a sort of reunion place for them now and they always tried to meet up at least once a semester.  
Beverly had a good excuse for being late today though, and she felt sure she would not be punished for being late, again.  
Beverly Howard had been walking for some time now towards the medical school, and away from the command school where she had been out late the previous night with Jack Crusher. She was still giving Jack dancing lessons and after four months of three lessons a week, he still seemed to have two left feet, she didn't mind teaching him though as it meant spending more time with him.  
She had paused to allow a low flying shuttle to cross the path twenty meters ahead of her, which she felt sure was off course. The shuttle was coming down at a rather fast pace and began to wobble slightly as the inertial dampers started to fail, it crashed to the ground with a slight rumble as the engines shut down. Beverly hadn't even had time to react before the shuttle burst into flames. She reacted with haste now though running toward it with speed. Various other cadets milled around farther away than she was from the shuttle, and ran to get help when they saw what had happened.  
She approached the shuttle and noticed that the two crewmembers were both unconscious and trapped inside. Her vision though was rapidly decreasing with the thick black smoke that was coming from the fire. As she got nearer to the door she saw an off duty cadet come rushing over to help get the crew members out of the shuttle. The two of them pulled hard at the door and with the third attempt it opened slightly to allow them to enter. Beverly burst through the door and headed for the pilot while the other cadet picked up the co-pilot, with remarkable ease, from her seat and took her out onto the grass.  
Beverly struggled with the pilot but the helpful cadet came back to help again, and she was able to grab a medical kit before they all exited the smoldering cabin.  
They dragged the survivors away from the shuttle as the fire suppression unit got to work in extinguishing the flames before they got out of hand. Beverly coughed and spluttered with the smoke while opening the med-kit with haste. She got out a medical tricorder to assess the damage to the two unconscious cadets. One just needed minor medical attention, which could wait for the medical team to arrive. The other pilot however was more seriously injured with head injuries and internal bleeding. She got out a hypospray and gave the cadet a shot of seratonin to stem the flow of blood and combat the internal bleeding. She rolled him into the classic recovery position remembering to check that he had a clear airway. There was nothing more she could do with the equipment at hand.  
Beverly looked up towards her helpful cadet and asked what his name was. "Cadet Data, or just Data if you prefer." He had said with a kind voice and visible calm at what had just occurred.  
"Well, Data. I must say that you handled that little incident with remarkable ease." She started to scan him with her tricorder to make sure that he hadn't suffered any smoke inhalation damage.  
"As did you, Cadet." He replied, cocking his head to one side as he said, "It is not necessary for you to administer any medical treatment, Cadet. I am not damaged in any way."  
"How...?" Beverly began to ask as she coughed slightly herself.  
"I am an android and am able to function adequately when I am needed to in a crisis. The smoke did not affect me internally, as I did not need to inhale any oxygen when I was inside the cabin. I am capable of going without oxygen for a longer period of time than you." Data informed her.  
"Well, you're definitely the kind of person to have around in a crisis then." The medical team arrived at that point and whisked the two injured cadets off to the infirmary while Beverly gave one of them a run down of what had happened.  
A qualified doctor had come out of one of the classrooms to see what was going on. He was dressed in the usual science blue uniform of Starfleet and was the rank of Lieutenant. He was about thirty years old and was about Beverly's height. His hair was dark brown and he had a thick bristly mustache. He said that if Beverly and Data had not taken immediate steps to ensure the safety of the shuttle's crew, they would have surely been badly burned or even died.  
So Beverly had arrived at the door to her lecture hall very pleased with herself indeed.  
She knocked on the door and an immediate answer yelled for her to enter. Professor Raymond was on the other side and was the type of person that any excuse was not good enough for. He had dark piercing brown eyes and black hair that was peppered with grey, standing at a height of six feet it made him even harder to talk to. He was about fifty and had a brash Irish accent, when he spoke it felt like you were being put back into place at the side of the gutter somewhere. He was very imposing and not very easy to get along with. Beverly had him for anatomy and physiology.  
His eyes turned to her and he stared as she entered the lecture room as quickly and quietly as possible. She had never been late for one of Professor Raymond's classes before and so did not know what to expect.  
"Cadet Howard?" He said expectant. All eyes turned to her and some of her classmates looked down so as not to make her laugh involuntarily, and put an already volatile situation into a full blown eruption.  
"I'm very sorry I'm late, Professor Raymond but if you would just let me explain I..."  
"Cadet." He interrupted, "I know of your inability to come to lessons on time and let me tell you now that this excuse of yours had better be good. Well?" He said turning to her and putting his cane under his arm like an old-fashioned drill sergeant from the army.  
"I assure you, sir, that there is a very good reason for my being late." She proceeded to tell him of the mornings events and he listened intently, smiling, at the end of her speech, in disbelief.  
"Well, I thought I had heard some stories in my time but that one just takes the biscuit. Cadet, I really should commend you for your ingenuity but I shan't, sit down and see me at the end of the lecture." He began to turn back to his notes but saw Beverly standing where she was in protest. "Sit down, Cadet!" He yelled, but she stood her ground firmly. Her classmates looked to her in shock but she ignored them trying to come up with a good excuse for her insubordination.  
"No. I will not sit down until you believe my story, Professor." Her face set in the grim, determined expression she had that told everyone that she would not stand down. The professor's face turned red as he accepted the fact she was not just going to go quietly.  
"Cadet, you are making a grave mistake by defying me. I will not tolerate insubordination and while I assume you may get away with it with your other tutors, I assure you, you will not get away with it with me." She walked slowly toward him across the room becoming angrier by the minute.  
"You have the nerve to assume that I am a liar, insubordinate and you will not tolerate it? Well let me tell you something..."  
"Beverly, don't it's not worth it," one of her friends whispered but she hushed them with her hand.  
"I have done exactly what I said I have. If you don't believe me then that's your problem and I'm out of here now. However I suggest that you check the facts before you assume things about me!" Beverly shouted back, giving as much as she was getting.  
"Cadet..." There was a knock on the door and Professor Raymond called for whoever it was to enter. Beverly noticed a man step through the door; it was the doctor that had been there earlier that morning. If he had just come in then couldn't he tell the Professor and make him see reason?  
"Doctor Quaice. What can I do for you?" He asked slightly annoyed that he had been interrupted for the second time that morning.  
"I just stopped by to speak with one of your cadets, in fact she's right here." He stepped over to Beverly and held out a hand to shake her's. "Cadet I just want to congratulate you." Beverly looked puzzled. "The two crew members from the shuttle will be fine thanks to you and your friend. It appears that the shuttle's engines failed more than once and they had to make a crash landing. Thank you, you both have commendations coming your way in the near future, I'll make sure of it." He turned back to the professor. "This is probably a credit to you, Professor Raymond." He smiled at the professor who paled slightly at the realization that Beverly had been telling the truth all along. The class started to applaud her and she flushed slightly. "Well I must be going now." Dr. Quaice left the room and Professor Raymond turned to Beverly.  
"Cadet Howard. It seems that I was mistaken, please accept my apologies and.... well done."  
"Thank you, Professor." Beverly said and turned to sit down and join the class for the rest of the lecture.  
Beverly turned to look behind her and noticed a woman she had never seen before, this woman was a little too old to be a medical student but she had a Starfleet uniform on and the rank of commander. She looked very familiar and she was staring at her. Her eyes were the deepest black that Beverly had ever seen before.  
Professor Raymond began his lesson again and Beverly turned to face the front thinking that she would never be late for class again, since this time she was nearly on the verge of being kicked out of medical school. She really must learn to keep her mouth shut and control her temper.  
When she turned around again the woman was gone but Beverly still had the uneasy feeling of being watched. She suddenly went dizzy and blacked out.  
  
A/N: Thank you for all of the reviews so far, please continue to leave your comments. Thanks. 


	7. chapter 6

Chapter Six  
  
Commander Riker made himself comfortable behind the controls of the shuttlecraft Justman. He had requested this particular shuttle because it was the most powerful of all of the shuttles- being a type-six personnel shuttle, and one of many that the Enterprise carried. Commander La Forge and an engineering team had been busy re-fitting the shuttle with extra shielding and better radiation control systems, so that Riker could make it safely out of the nebula and to DS9.  
Riker manipulated the controls and called Data on the bridge to ask permission to depart. The shuttle bay doors began to open and the vastness of space became apparent with the nebula surrounding the ship, it looked like the ship was stuck in some sort of gigantic pink candyfloss. Riker swiftly got the shuttle out of the bay into the nebula towards what he hoped would be the answers to all of Beverly's problems.  
He pierced the Enterprise's shields and was released into the soup. Immediately the shuttle began to rock slightly as Riker powered up the extra shielding and engaged the warp engines. If the journey went well he would reach DS9 within three hours, and hopefully only have to stop off for minor repairs and to collect Dr. Bashir. He remembered the orders that Captain Picard had given him to give to Captain Sisko. He picked them up from the seat beside him and read over them so he would know exactly what to say when he arrived at the station.  
The journey would probably seem to be long due to the fact that he was in a hurry, and things always seemed to go slower when that happened. Riker engaged the autopilot and sat back in his chair waiting for the journey to end.  
  
Troi sat very still on the chair beside Beverly's bio-bed with her eyes closed and trying to concentrate as much as possible. She was still holding the doctor's hand and trying to communicate with her telepathically. Troi had been inside Beverly's mind for almost half an hour and Dr. Selar had been monitoring Troi's readings from the terminal at the back of sickbay. Everything had been going well so far.  
Deanna was keeping some of her strength by not communicating with Beverly directly, instead she sat contently in the back of Crusher's mind, watching past events as they unfolded before her. It was quite strange for Troi to be in this sort of situation. She had never received images as clear and as strong as this before, and it was like she was experiencing a dream; not being able to control feelings and actions, and being somewhat disjointed from reality.  
Troi had watched as Beverly had been intimidated and chastised by a superior officer at the Academy, and had watched her stand up for herself and then be let off the hook by a young version of an old friend of theirs; Dr. Dalen Quaice. It was turning out to be very interesting, and Troi was learning things about her friend that she might have never found out otherwise.  
She knew that Crusher had seen her sitting a few rows back from her in the lecture hall. She hadn't recognised her though, and Troi didn't see that it had done Beverly any harm to have seen her. Right about now it was the only touch with reality that Beverly had, and that couldn't do her any harm; it could only serve to help her in some way. Troi however felt the need to withdraw from the deep connection; somehow she was being pulled away and she didn't know why.  
Deanna sat up in the chair and opened her eyes, blinking a few times as her eyes became used to the light again. Dr. Selar came over to her and noting the puzzled expression on Troi's face, began to explain.  
"I gave you a stimulant to bring you out of your psychic state. Dr. Crusher's life signs suddenly went erratic, and that may have harmed you in someway had I left you linked to each other. I saw that the only logical thing to do was to bring you out."  
"Yes I felt something strange happen when I was in there. It was like a dream and Beverly looked straight at me, she didn't recognise me but..." She sighed and shook her head, rising to her feet and stretching. "It's all a bit confusing, I need some time to reflect on what I've seen."  
"That does explain what happened, maybe she felt anxious seeing you for the first time and knowing that she should have recognised you. I think that you should rest before you attempt to engage her with your telepathic link again." Troi nodded and turned to leave. "You can come back when you feel ready to try again." Selar said and Troi turned back again to speak with her.  
"I will do that, Doctor." She said smiling, then added a thought that had just come to her. "Dr. Selar. I think that you should try to meld with her. I have heard that sometimes a meld can be enough to correct many mental disorders, maybe it could work for Beverly."  
"It would not be wise for me to try anything like that, Counsellor. The meld is very complex and could be potentially dangerous should she choose to resist me in someway. A mind meld is usually only used with other Vulcans and I am not trained in a way that would allow me to communicate with Dr. Crusher." Selar explained.  
"Oh well, just a thought. I'll come back in about an hour." Troi said, dropping that idea straight away; the point was to help Beverly and not to make her more ill.  
"That would be quite acceptable, Counsellor." Selar replied simply, "Captain Picard told me to inform you that Commander Riker has left for Deep Space Nine, and that he would like to speak with you when you are free."  
"Thank you." Troi said and left sickbay.  
  
Captain Picard was in his quarters trying to relax but under the circumstances, it was proving to be very hard. He looked up from the book he was browsing through when he heard the door chime. Feeling relieved to actually have something to focus on; he called for his visitor to enter. Counsellor Troi stepped through the door and approached Picard.  
"Don't get up, Captain," she said holding out her hand. He put down his book and shifted in his seat. "I'm pleased that you are actually following my advice and relaxing for a change."  
"It's not doing any good though, Counsellor. I can't concentrate on much and I've read these books so many times that I know them backwards." He said with a slight chuckle. "Oh, please sit down." She sat opposite him on the couch and made herself comfortable.  
"I was surprised to find you here and not on the bridge." Troi said.  
"I relinquished command to Mr. Data when Commander Riker left. He threatened to relieve me of duty if I didn't come down here." He smiled understanding that the crew were only looking out for his best interests.  
"Is there something specific that you wanted to see me about, Captain?"  
"Just a progress report, Counsellor. Is Beverly responding to your efforts at communication?"  
"Not really, Captain, no. It's like she's just totally withdraw into her unconscious mind and is letting her sub-conscious take over. She is re- living the past in different stages of her life, and to me it's like a dream that you have and then can't remember when you wake up."  
Picard nodded trying to understand. "Is she dreaming though or is she actually experiencing re-surfacing memories?"  
Troi took a moment before commenting. "I've seen images that I don't understand, partly because they are from her past and a time when I didn't know her, and also because I really don't know whether or not these images are actually memories, or something that her mind is conjuring up. Whatever it is though seems to be coming in waves every now and then with no sort of logic to them; that I can see anyway."  
"Has it proved to be anything of a success?" Picard asked her, hoping that it was because they were fast running out of options.  
"I think so, Captain. I'm trying to take a back seat in all of this for a while though. Dr. Selar had to give me silosinen to enhance my telepathic abilities, which helped a great deal. She warned me that I have to conserve my strength though or I'll end up in a coma also." She paused for a second, still trying to make sense of what she had seen. "I was beginning to make some headway but when I was in Beverly's mind and she was playing out a specific memory- I don't know what else to call it, she looked right at me. She didn't recognise me but I felt something-strange happen-, which I can't explain, and the next thing I knew I was looking at Dr. Selar. Apparently she had to bring me out because Beverly's readings became erratic." She added without pause, "Beverly is alright now though. Dr. Selar and I both agree that it occurred because Beverly had seen me and didn't recognise me, but felt that she should have; which may have caused her to panic. It's all a bit confusing, Captain." She took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly.  
"So it is worth trying again then?"  
"Yes, Captain. It's certainly not doing her any more harm than good. I said I would go back in an hour."  
"Alright but don't overdo it, Counsellor, you're not infallible either you know." Picard said; one officer down was quite enough.  
"You can talk, Captain." She said with a small laugh, this was kind of like the pot calling the kettle black. "I do understand though and I will take every precaution." Picard nodded in approval.  
"Well, I've sent Commander Riker to get Dr. Bashir so hopefully he can give us some answers to all of this. Maybe you can both work in conjunction with one another when he gets here." Picard suggested; two heads were better than one after all.  
"Yes, that might be best." She paused and thought for a moment, "Captain, have we anymore leads as to the whereabouts of the Washington?"  
"Not yet. Commander La Forge and Lieutenant Worf are busy re- calibrating the sensors to penetrate the nebula; they should have a report due soon. At the moment I have Commander Data have the Enterprise change course, as the warp signature we've been following changes, hopefully that will lead us somewhere though it is a slight possibility. And as for the nebula itself, we may not be able to stay here much longer. The radiation levels are still building up and we can't let them become too critical for our own safety."  
"Is there any hope of finding Voyager as well?" She asked.  
"No. We've lost all trace of Voyager and the debris on the planet was of a shuttlecraft. It is sad that the Federation lose such a fine captain and crew, and its newest most advanced starship. It will go down in the history books as being lost on its maiden voyage, which is a shame really. I've met Captain Janeway once before, she was a formidable strong willed woman, brilliant in her field of science and well respected, she will be a great loss to all who knew her." Picard told her, thinking back to a time long ago.  
"I had no idea that you had met her, Captain."  
"Yes, back when she was on the Constellation."  
They talked for over an hour when Troi rose from the seat and informed Picard that she must go back to sickbay. "Of course, Counsellor. I shall be down a little later but good luck and I hope you get some where this time."  
"Thank you, Captain." She said turning slightly.  
"Is there something else, Counsellor?" Picard asked.  
"I don't know, Captain. It's something I've just remembered. When I initiated contact with Beverly's mind I felt something dark and very far below the surface of her mind. It seemed like a shadow but I don't understand what it could be or why it's there. Like I said it is far below the surface- I almost didn't even notice it, it is very discreet whatever it is though."  
"Does it pose any immediate threat?" Picard asked her.  
"I don't think so, Captain."  
"Could this be the cause of her coma then?" He asked, trying to get as much information from what Troi had discovered.  
"I really can't tell at this point, Captain. Maybe I can delve a little deeper and get some answers to your questions. I will keep on trying because I think that whatever it is holds the clues I need."  
"Very well. Keep me informed, Counsellor." Troi nodded and left Picard's quarters.  
  
A/N: Please leave a review. Thanks 


	8. chapter 7

Chapter Seven  
  
Riker exited the nubula somewhat unscathed to his disbelief. The journey hadn't been that bad at all and he made a mental note to thank La Forge for his excellent work with the shielding, when he got back. The journey would be another hour at warp three and then he would arrive at the station.  
He prepared a message for Wesley at the Academy, about his mother, and sent it as soon as he had finished. It would arrive at Starfleet in about four hours via sub-space and then be relayed from there. Sending that kind of message over sub-space disturbed Riker because of the information that it contained. Riker knew that if he was in Wesley's position he would least like to be told about his mothers demise via a communiqué; that kind of message was best delivered in person. There was no other way around it though they were too far away from Starfleet to do anything else.  
Riker got up to get something to eat and drink from the replicator in the rear of the shuttle, it would kill some time and he hadn't eaten for a few hours.  
When he finished the computer informed him that the station was one thousand kilometers away. Riker immediately moved back into the pilot seat and hailed Captain Sisko.  
"Captain Sisko, this is Commander Riker of the shuttlecraft Justman. I'm coming in range of the station now. Request permission to dock." Riker's terminal flickered to a picture of the bridge on the station and Captain Sisko standing dead center of the screen.  
"Commander Riker, nice to see you again. Are you here for a social visit or to get your winnings from Quark?" Sisko asked light heartedly.  
"No, unfortunately not, this is purely business and it's not very pleasant at that. I'll be ready to dock in six minutes and I'd rather tell you why I'm here, in person." Riker said over the comm channel.  
Sisko nodded his head. "Of course, Commander. It sounds serious but I'll see you when you get here. Oh, permission to dock, Commander. Sisko out." Riker smiled back at Sisko and the comm link was closed.  
  
Six minutes passed and Riker moved the shuttle into one of the upper docking clamps on the port side of the station. With a few taps to the helm controls Riker turned control of the shuttle over to the computer, picked up the orders Captain Picard had given him, and exited the shuttle via the aft hatch.  
He stepped out into a short corridor and found Chief Miles O'Brien; his old friend from the Enterprise, waiting for him. "Hello, Commander Riker. It's a pleasure to see you again, sir." Miles said in his familiar Irish accent.  
"The pleasure is all mine, Chief. You're looking well it must be all that healthy food Keiko makes you eat." Riker greeted, shaking his hand and clapping him on the back in a friendly gesture.  
"I don't think so, it's all the hard work I do on this station, one system fails then another and another in succession. It's a never-ending story, I sometimes wish I were back on the Enterprise." He chuckled softly.  
"Well we can certainly arrange that, we all miss you." Riker told him.  
"Thank you, sir." Miles said, then with a more serious note. "You said that you were here on business, is there anything specific I can help you with?"  
"No, Chief there isn't but I will tell you why I'm here since you knew her." Riker said, his attitude also turning to an heir of seriousness.  
"Knew who, sir?" O'Brien asked immediately interested.  
"Dr. Crusher. She's very ill indeed, she's in a coma and there's nothing we can do for her. I'm here for Dr. Bashir because Dr. Selar believes he's the only person who can help." Riker raised the pad he held in his hand. "These are transfer orders for the doctor."  
Miles looked shocked. "My god, I hope she recovers soon, and Julian will do everything he possibly can you can bet on that, Commander. He's one of the best there is"  
"Well I hope so because he's the last hope we have." Riker told him.  
"I better get you to the bridge, Captain Sisko is waiting."  
"Yes, please do, Chief. I really don't have much time." They started along the short corridor and into the turbolift. Riker always got the impression that he was about to be ambushed when he was on DS9. Partly because this wasn't a Federation built station, it was Cardassian, and everything he looked at reminded him of that fact.  
The turbolift started up and Miles turned to Riker again. "If there's anything I can do at all just give me a yell, sir."  
"Actually, I need the shuttle looked over before I return. La Forge re- fitted it before I left the ship, with extra shielding and so forth. I need to check it's fully functional before I leave because the ride back isn't likely to be as smooth as the ride here." Riker said, grateful of any help that he could offer.  
"I'll get right on it, sir. It's a long way back. We were informed of where the Enterprise was incase you needed any help, since we've got a new starship now."  
"Ah yes, the Defiant. I wouldn't mind getting a look at it but unfortunately there isn't time. Maybe next time though?" Riker said turning to O'Brien again.  
"Fine, Commander. She's a beauty, I know you'll like her."  
"I'm sure I will." They both stepped out of the turbolift and Major Kira Nerys greeted them, O'Brien went off to see what he could do to fix Riker's shuttle, leaving Riker to speak with Kira.  
"Commander. Welcome to Deep Space Nine. Captain Sisko is waiting for you in his office." She motioned towards the door with her hand and Riker went over to it.  
"Thank you, Major." Riker said as he tapped the door chime.  
"Come in," was the reply from the other side and the door rolled open, revealing Sisko sitting behind his desk.  
  
A/N: Please leave a review, thanks. 


	9. chapter 8

Chapter Eight  
  
"Commander Riker, is it?" Sisko asked with an edge of suspicion as he stood up and looked squarely at Riker. Riker took a few steps forward into the office and then stopped as he heard someone come up from behind him; he turned to see who it was. A mass of golden liquid picked itself up from the floor and seemed to stretch upward continuously changing shape until it found its more familiar form. Constable Odo emerged and stood his ground guarding the door so that no-one could enter or leave. Riker looked puzzled glancing from Odo to Sisko and back again.  
"Captain, what's going on?" Riker asked clearly confused.  
"The question is who are you and what are you doing here?" Odo said in his raspy sort of voice that was full of innuendo.  
"I'm Commander William T. Riker of the starship Enterprise and we've met before, a few times so how don't you know me?" Will asked, very confused and a bit anxious- he really didn't have time for this.  
"You see we met not that long ago and we were fooled by your counterpart, Thomas Riker." Riker nodded his head beginning to see what all of this was about. "He stole the Defiant and I'm sorry but we really can't tell the difference between the two of you." Sisko informed him  
"Right, well I really don't know how to convince you of who I am, but I can see the predicament that you're in." Riker said understandingly.  
"So it seems that we're stuck, doesn't it?" Sisko said picking up the baseball from its stand on his desk, and throwing it up in the air, catching it when it fell and repeating the motion.  
"We certainly are but I really don't have time for these games. Here," Riker handed Sisko the pad with the orders from Captain Picard on. "These are orders from Captain Picard to relieve Dr. Bashir from your command." Sisko raised his eyebrows and took the pad from Riker. He read over them then slumped back in his chair and sighed heavily. Picard was a senior captain to Sisko and he couldn't really stop the transfer of an officer unless absolutely necessary.  
"These orders don't tell me why you want our good doctor. Would you care to enlighten me, Commander?"  
"I believe that you've had word from Command saying that the Enterprise is in the Grizean star system trying to find the Washington?" Sisko nodded his head slowly and Riker continued. "Our chief medical officer has taken ill and is near death as we speak, we believe that Dr. Bashir has been working on something that could help her, and that is why we need him."  
"How do we know that this isn't some sort of Maquis plan of yours?" Odo said from behind Will.  
"You don't, look I don't know how to convince you- I knew he was going to be a problem the moment we rescued him, but well, we need the doctor now and I must head back to my ship. Your both welcome to come with me if you like." Riker offered; it may make this conversation go more quickly.  
"I don't think that will be necessary, Commander." Odo stepped forward to protest but Sisko held up his hand, "I believe him, Constable. Dr. Bashir is relieved to you for the duration that you need him," Riker sighed in relief. Sisko stood up and moved over to Riker. "Please bring him back in one piece and don't work him too hard. I hope your CMO gets well soon."  
"Thank you, Captain. I really have to get going soon, I think O'Brien is repairing my shuttle though." Riker said.  
"That's all right, we can go by the infirmary and pick up the doctor on the way to your shuttle." Sisko smiled and escorted Riker out of his office, leading him to where Bashir was located.  
  
Troi was determined not to let her friend go through whatever it was alone. She entered sickbay once again and saw Dr. Selar out of the corner of her eye. Selar looked up and approached the counsellor. "I assume you are ready to try again, Counsellor?"  
"Yes, I've spoken with the captain and informed him of everything so far. He is happy for me to continue as well." Troi told her while mentally preparing herself for the task ahead.  
"Very well, I am ready for you to begin when ever you feel comfortable, Counsellor." She put down the pad she was working on and gave Troi her full attention.  
Troi moved over to the chair beside Crusher's bio-bed and sat down. She held her hand again finding it easier to communicate that way- almost like a Vulcan mind meld. She closed her eyes and Selar replaced the cortical stimulator on her forehead, then went to monitor from the console at the back of sickbay again.  
Troi reached out with her mind again and waited for another of Crusher's memories to resurface.  
  
The parcel arrived and Beverly opened it cautiously. It was from Jack, and Jack was always playing some sort of practical joke on people these days. She didn't want anything to spring out on her like it did the last time she received a parcel from him.  
Beverly and Jack had not been seeing that much of each other recently but their relationship was becoming stronger and stronger by the day, as they say: "absence makes the heart grow fonder."  
Beverly was still at the Academy studying medicine but Jack had graduated three years ago. Jack was off on assignment at this time, under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard on board the deep space exploration vessel, Stargazer. He had been gone for one week and already she was missing him immensely. She thought about him for a long moment, temporarily forgetting about the parcel that was on her knee.  
Jack had served with Picard for three years now and he had already advanced to the rank of lieutenant. Picard was a very good friend of his and Beverly had met him once or twice before, he was very charming and demanded the best in everyone all of the time. In his eyes, Jack had been the best and so he had got the posting on the Stargazer fresh out of the Academy, and rose up a notch on the rank structure quite quickly.  
Her attention returned back to the box in front of her and away from the empty hole inside her that had appeared with Jack's absence.  
The parcel was nicely wrapped in a box and decorated with bows and coloured paper. She opened it and looked inside to find a book. She gazed at it puzzled as she lifted it out and read the front cover. "'How to Advance Your Career Through Marriage.'" She smiled widely knowing that it was Jack's way of proposing to her. She didn't need to think about it but knew instantly that the right decision was to say yes. She thought about all of the time they had spent together, where they had first met and about all of the dancing lessons she had given him- which had brought them closer together, and eventually to this point in her life. She was overwhelmed with joy and she immediately sent a communiqué back to Jack with her answer.  
  
Troi sat up in the chair again and turned to look at Selar. "I felt overwhelming joy and Beverly was regaining strength through it."  
"Her readings did get better there and they have not deteriorated as yet. What happened?" Selar asked with as puzzled an expression as a Vulcan could muster.  
"She was reliving a pleasant memory of the time when Jack, her late husband proposed." She stopped and thought a second. "Wait, if we can somehow manipulate her mind only to remember the good memories she may regain consciousness."  
"Similar to the way we did when Commander Riker fell into a coma six years ago, though in reverse?" Selar asked, wanting to understand fully.  
"Yes, instead of making her remember bad memories, we isolate all of the good ones and use them instead." Troi explained.  
"How do you propose we do that?" Selar asked.  
"How did we do it the last time?"  
"Dr. Pulaski reasoned that endorphins in the brain of Commander Riker may have been able to kill off the microbes infecting him. Thus subjecting Commander Riker to certain endorphins and therefore certain memories, we were able to combat the microbes and bring him out of the coma. I don't know if it will work in Dr. Crusher's case though since microbes are not causing her condition. And another thing, it is quite easy to produce endorphins to resurface bad memories but to manipulate the brain to produce endorphins to resurface good memories is a lot trickier. I don't think I can do it but when Dr. Bashir gets here he may be able to do it, I believe that it may be the essence of his research." Selar looked at Troi as her expression suddenly changed. "Is there something wrong, Counsellor?"  
"What if she relives the memory of Jack's death? She's only just beginning to fully get over it now, if she remembers that it may very well be the death of her." Troi said as her heart sank at the prospect of her best friend's death.  
"Then you are going to have to go back into her mind and make yourself known, Counsellor. If you explain what is happening and make her remember anything but that..."  
"Yes, that might be the answer. I hope it works." Troi said pleased that they had finally made some sort of breakthrough and were on the verge of being able to do something useful to help Beverly.  
"As do I but remember that you could suffer yourself." Selar warned her again.  
"I'll remember to take it slowly."  
Troi entered the mind of her friend once more and with a new agenda.  
  
A/N: Please leave a review... thanks. 


	10. chapter 9

Chapter Nine  
  
Riker and Sisko entered the infirmary to find Dr. Bashir hard at work at his desk. "Dr. Bashir, I have a mission for you." Sisko said as he approached the doctor. Bashir stood up relieved to have something else to do; he had been hard at an analysis of the growth of bacteria for three hours solid and his brain was slowly turning to mush. He noticed Commander Riker and smiled apprehensively in his direction.  
"Commander Riker... I hope anyway." He said wishing that it was.  
"Don't worry, he is Commander Riker and he needs your help." Sisko said reassuring his CMO.  
"My help? I don't understand." Bashir said a bit confused.  
"I have orders to transfer you to the Enterprise for the duration of the time that we need your services, then you can return to Deep Space Nine." Riker handed him the padd with the orders on and he read through them taken aback.  
"What's this about, Captain?" He asked Sisko.  
"The Enterprise's CMO is critically ill, in a coma and deteriorating fast, since you've been doing research on comatose patients it seems that your expertise is required." Sisko informed him.  
"Beverly?" Julian asked in disbelief, he had struck up quite a good friendship with her the last time they had worked together.  
Riker nodded. "I hate to rush you, Doctor but we have to get going now if we're going to help her at all."  
"Of course, Commander. I'll just grab a few things and we can be on our way momentarily." Julian went off to get the equipment and notes he would need.  
"O'Brien to Commander Riker." Riker's comm badge beeped and he tapped it in response.  
"Yes, Riker here. Go ahead, Chief."  
"Sir, though you had a smooth ride here, the shuttle is going to take a while to repair properly. I estimate four hours at least. The shields are failing repeatedly and the fusion injectors are off line, it's probably a residual effect of the radiation build up. There's nothing I can really do that would even suffice for now, this is going to take a complete overhaul of the shield generators and that's going to take some time."  
"Four hours may be too late- it may be too late now for that matter. Thanks for trying though, Chief." Riker replied with regret.  
"No problem, I'll keep working on it but in the mean time I suggest you ask Captain Sisko for the loan of a runabout." O'Brien replied.  
"Thanks. Riker out." He was in a bit of a dilemma now and his hopes of saving Beverly were fading fast. He turned to Sisko who immediately shook his head before he had had time to ask.  
"No, Commander. The runabouts aren't going to be fitted with the extra shielding in time either. The Defiant is ready to go now, Chief O'Brien and I will accompany you and Bashir."  
"Agreed, Captain." Riker said. Bashir came back with bags full of equipment and padds. "Ready to go, Doctor?"  
"As ready as ever, Commander." He replied enthusiastically.  
"Let's go then." Sisko said. "Chief O'Brien, report to the Defiant."  
"Aye, sir on my way."  
They moved off through the station to the docking port where the Defiant lay in wait.  
  
Picard sat on the bridge on the Enterprise; eagerly awaiting the results of the tests Commander Data was running on the surrounding area of space, in the search of the Washington.  
Data sat at the console aft of Worf's science station running various tests and searches on the planet the ship was orbiting, and the deteriorating warp signature of the Washington. The computer beeped a few times and informed him that the scan had been completed. Data stepped away from the console and turned to Captain Picard to deliver his report. "Captain, I have completed several scans of the surrounding space and planet. I can conclude that the planet has it's own internal energy source that provides light and food substances for the life to grow. This energy source also helps to maintain a dense photosphere around the planet and that is what is keeping the radiation from affecting the life down there.  
"The planet seems to have remained as a stable ecosystem for thousands of years now. I do not have any explanation of how it actually works though. All I can say is that it is a naturally occurring power source but that someone down there has to be controlling it."  
"And your scans haven't picked up anyone who may be controlling it?" Picard asked as he turned in his chair to face Data.  
"No, Captain, they have not. Our scans can only penetrate the surface so far though, and then they become ineffective." Data replied.  
"If we enter the planet's atmosphere low enough, you may be able to get a clearer scan." Picard said standing up and stepping across to where Data was working.  
"Yes, Captain but that may be inadvisable. If we disturb whatever is alive down there, they may not take kindly to it, and since they have that amount of energy that they can manipulate, there is no telling what they might be able to do with it." Data advised.  
"Hmm." Picard thought for a second. "If we can contact whoever is controlling the power source down there though, they may have some indication as to what has happened to the Washington or Voyager."  
"It may be very informative if we could communicate with whoever or whatever is down there but our sensors and communications are being affected by the radiation build up, and our ship is far too large to be able to get close enough to the surface." Data paused, "I must also point out that I have lost all evidence suggesting that the Voyager was here at all, Captain."  
"Very well, Commander. We must find the Washington though and we at least know for definate that she was here." Picard said.  
"A shuttle would be badly damaged with the turbulent entry into the upper atmosphere, as we have already found out." Data commented, trying to find a possible solution to their problem of contacting anyone down on the planet.  
"What about if we separate the ship?" Picard didn't like having his ship separated, and leaving half of it almost defenseless but sometimes there were no other options.  
"That could work, Captain. Though it would be risky as well. The engineering section would have a lot more maneuverability though if anything should happen."  
"Make it so then. The saucer section will remain in orbit and a skeleton crew will maneuver the engineering section into the lower atmosphere. Prepare for saucer separation in thirty minutes." Picard said returning to his command chair.  
"Aye, sir." Data responded.  
  
A/N: Please leave a review. Thank you. 


	11. chapter 10

Chapter Ten  
  
The wedding had gone smoothly and the reception was now in full swing, after the long build up to the event. The preparations had gone on for some weeks and the product of all the work was that everyone was having a ball. The band played and the guests danced and ate the buffet that had been laid out for them. There were about fifty guests at least, Beverly and Jack had lost count, and the dance floor was jammed full of people trying to dance to the best of their abilities. Jack had given up the dance lessons as soon as he could, Beverly had said that he had two left feet and even she couldn't teach him to be more graceful with them.  
Beverly sat down for a second while Jack went to get some drinks. She had been rushed off her feet for the past few weeks and having to dance with almost every guest didn't help her much, she was in need of a much- earned rest. She was looking forward to the honeymoon where she would be able to lounge around on a beach all day if she wanted to.  
Jack returned and she stood to retrieve her drink, lifting her dress off the floor so that she didn't stand on it. It was no longer tradition to wear a white, uncomfortable dress, with various veils and other attachments since more modern attire was suitable these days. Her dress was still flowing and white however. Beverly wasn't one to keep up with tradition usually and always went for a more comfortable feel but today was special and it somehow seemed appropriate. Jack however was in full dress uniform and was completely uncomfortable; they always had high collars and were too tight.  
"Thank you, Jack." She said as she took the glass from him and smiled warmly.  
"Your welcome, Beverly Crusher." She grinned again; it would take her a long time to get used to the name change.  
"That sounds weird doesn't it...? Beverly Crusher. Dr. Crusher... I'm so used to Dr. Howard." She said, rolling the name around a few times to try and get used to it.  
"You didn't have to change your name you know, you had the option to leave it as Howard. You know I wouldn't have minded." Jack told her.  
"Yes, I know. But even though I'm not usually one for tradition, it wouldn't feel right if I didn't change my name. Besides, Dr. Crusher has a nice ring to it don't you think?" She said laughing slightly.  
"Yes, I certainly do. Just don't live up to it or your patients won't be too happy." Jack said chuckling slightly as well. A man strolled over to greet them both and held his hand out to shake Jack's.  
"Congratulations Jack, and Beverly of course. I wondered when you two were actually going to tie the knot."  
"Well we finally did, Jean-Luc. After all this time."  
"It was a wonderful service, different vows. Did you write them yourselves?" Jean-Luc asked out of interest.  
"Yes, we think that it means more to us knowing that it is what we both feel. 'To love, honor and obey' doesn't actually fit with this day and age anymore." Beverly said engaging Jean-Luc in conversation.  
"I see what you mean." Picard agreed.  
"Well sorry to leave so soon but I must thank the other guests for coming." Beverly said starting to back away. "Lovely to have seen you again Jean-Luc. Please come by the house for dinner one night before you ship out again."  
"I will do that, thank you, Beverly." He smiled grateful for the invite.  
"Well I'll leave you two to talk then." Beverly said kissing Jack on the cheek then moving away through the guests.  
"She looks beautiful, Jack. You've done yourself proud." Picard said admiring his best friend's new wife.  
"Why thank you, Jean-Luc. Listen I haven't thanked you for being my best man yet, it really means a lot to me. I don't know what I would have done if you had said no." Jack said placing a hand on Picard's shoulder in a friendly gesture.  
"Nonsense, your my best friend and I was honored to do it, there was no question of me not doing it." Picard said delighted that he had been chosen for the task.  
  
Beverly moved through the crowd quite quickly until she got to her old friend Kathleen Hunter. "Kath?" Beverly said rushing over.  
"Bev!" Kathleen said embracing her best friend from so long ago.  
"Thank you so much for coming. God, how long has it been...?" Beverly asked, holding her by the hands and looking her over.  
"Too long... six years." She said as they hugged each other.  
"Wow, how are you? I haven't heard from you for so long, and how did you know I was getting married anyway?" Beverly asked, still shocked at seeing her after so long. She had actually caught sight of Kathleen at the ceremony out of the corner of her eye but she couldn't stop the wedding just to speak to her.  
"Jack ran into Walker about a month ago at Starfleet, he invited us both but told us not to tell you, he wanted it to be a surprise." Kathleen told her.  
"Well it certainly is that. How are you keeping? You don't look so much different from when I last saw you, may be a little older though." She said joking with her.  
"I'm on temporary leave from Starfleet but I've got the rank of lieutenant when I go back. I'm married now, and nearly a mother." She said with pride and patting her stomach so Beverly could see the bump. Beverly noticed that she had gained all of her confidence and that marriage had obviously worked in her favour.  
"A mother? Are you married to Walker?"  
"Of course, who else? We were married about six months ago now."  
"Congratulations then, I wish you all the best." She paused looking around. "Where's Walker? Is he here?"  
"He's camped out at the food table as usual but I'll tell him to come and speak to you before the night's out, don't worry."  
"You make sure you do and tell him I want to dance with him before the night's out."  
Beverly noticed a woman leaning against the far wall, out of the way of the main crowd and looking directly at her. She turned away from Kathleen, "I'm sorry, Kath. I have to get going but I want to speak to you later. Don't leave without saying goodbye."  
"Sure," Kath said moving away to find Walker. Beverly stared at the woman who returned the gaze easily enough, capturing all of her attention. She knew her, but from where? She walked over to her cautiously for this was not one of her guests since she was wearing a normal duty Starfleet uniform. "I know you, don't I?" She asked as the woman stood up straight and smiled. "Wait, you were at the Academy when I rescued the shuttle pilots from their shuttle, you were in my classroom but you weren't a med student, were you?" Beverly asked suspiciously.  
"No, Beverly. I know this must seem a bit strange to you but I was not actually in the room at the time, I was in your mind just as I am now."  
"What? You're standing right here. What do you mean your in my mind? And what are you doing here at my wedding reception?" She asked incredulously, she couldn't believe the intrusion.  
"This is going to take some explanation and I fear we don't have time." The intruder said. She looked worried and a bit unsure.  
"Well of course not, I'm due to go off on honeymoon in a short time." Beverly told her, she really could not be bothered with this but somehow she knew it was important.  
"No, you're not." Troi said a bit unconvincingly.  
Beverly was becoming a bit annoyed at the intruder and she started looking around to see if she could find Jack, some moral support would be nice about now. "What do you mean, of course I am. Look I think you had better start from the beginning before I have you thrown out of here." She threatened.  
Troi sighed not knowing where to begin. "Alright but first you have to know that you can't have me thrown out because I'm not really here." Beverly looked puzzled but Troi continued, hoping that it would all become clearer to her soon. "None of this is real, for a start, you're reliving memories. You're actually aboard the starship Enterprise in the year 2370."  
  
"What? That can't be possible, it's 2348." Beverly exclaimed utterly perplexed and confused.  
"No, it's not, it's 2370." Troi said trying to convince her of the fact, unsuccessfully.  
"Look I don't have to stand here and listen to this nonsense. I'm supposed to be enjoying myself and you're not helping me do that. I don't even know you." Beverly said forcefully though trying to keep her voice down so that she would not attract attention.  
Troi decided to continue with the explanation. "You're in a coma and are experiencing flashbacks to key events in your life. Each time you flashback your body deteriorates and you're very close to death at this time.  
"The ship is stuck in a very dense nebula at the moment, looking for a lost starship called the Washington. You beamed down to a planet with an away team a few days ago, and recovered two dead crewmen from a crashed shuttlecraft. When you returned to the ship you started to experience memory loss and eventually lapsed into a coma. We can't do anything for you, we're waiting for the arrival of Dr. Bashir from Deep Space Nine but we fear that he may be too late. I've made myself known to you to try and help you out of it."  
"Who are you?" She asked expecting a straight answer right away.  
"My name is Deanna Troi and I'm the ship's counsellor." She paused letting it all sink in for a moment. "We're best friends," Troi added, trying to make her remember something of what she was saying.  
"I don't remember any of this."  
"I know, I believe that it is because you don't have access to those memories yet, your brain seems to be letting you relive experiences in sequence somehow."  
"So why have you made yourself known to me now? Wouldn't it be better to let me relive the experiences until I'm up to the... present?"  
"I was seen by accident before which triggered you to have a relapse in our sickbay. It was risky to let you see me this time but we had to risk it because we believe that if you experience bad memories, you'll die. I'm here to try and prevent that."  
"This is a lot to take in.... I don't know what to make of it. I have felt something though, as I moved through the guests, a familiarity with some of them more so than others, though I know them all." Beverly told her.  
"Who do you feel that with?" Troi asked a little concerned.  
"Jean-Luc Picard for one, that one's the strongest and I don't really know him all that well. Walker Keel, you... and that strange android back when I first saw you, I've temporarily forgotten his name."  
"Those are all people that you have had more recent contact with, outside of your mind. Jean-Luc Picard is the captain on board the Enterprise, the android- Data is the ship's second officer, Walker, you didn't see him all that long ago and as for me, I've already told you who I am." Troi informed her.  
"So what now?" Beverly said looking around at the guests and to Jack skeptically. "Why don't I feel a familiarity with Jack?" She asked turning back to face Troi.  
Troi took a deep breath, looking over to Jack and back at Beverly before answering. "You haven't seen him for a while that's all." Troi said trying desperately to find a way to avoid answering that particular question.  
"Tell me. I need to know." Beverly said forcefully but keeping her voice down low so that she wouldn't attract attention.  
"No you don't, that is what I am here to prevent." Beverly looked at her squarely forcing Troi to turn away.  
"Prevent what?" She demanded. Just then one of the guests approached and caught Beverly's attention.  
"Beverly. Congratulations. I saw you standing by yourself. Don't you want to dance?" He asked her.  
Beverly's heart sank he couldn't see Troi.  
"Bev?" He asked as she shook her head and smiled at him.  
"Sorry, I'm just a little distracted. I'll dance with you later, okay?" She said putting her hand on his shoulder and smiling at him.  
"Alright, I'll hold you to that mind." He chuckled and moved away.  
Beverly turned back to Troi who was looking rather odd. Troi looked up slightly, listening. "I have to go, something is wrong, I'll be back soon though and try to remain calm." Troi vanished from sight, leaving a slightly startled Crusher behind.  
"Hey, what have you been up to, I've missed you." Jack said approaching her from where he had been standing with Jean-Luc a moment before.  
"Nothing." She said turning and hugging him tightly.  
  
A/N: Please leave a review... Good or bad... all are accepted. Thank you. 


	12. chapter 11

Chapter Eleven  
  
"Troi to Captain Picard." She said sitting up abruptly in the chair beside Crusher, and tapping her communicator badge.  
"Picard here. Go ahead, Counsellor."  
"Captain, I sense that you've made a decision of some kind. Is everything alright?" She asked feeling a bit edgy.  
"Yes, Counsellor everything is fine. I've decided to separate the ship and take the engineering section into the lower atmosphere so that we can scan the planet more thoroughly." He informed her. "How did you know anyway?"  
"I still have heightened telepathic senses at the moment. Captain... be careful. I sense that something awaits us down there."  
"Why didn't you sense this before?"  
"I don't know, Captain. It only became apparent to me a few minutes ago. I've had a feeling that there is some form of higher life down there that we haven't discovered yet, it seems to be curious at the moment but has the potential to turn quite quickly, and I think that it may have something to do with Beverly's condition. She seemed to deteriorate after beaming down to the planet, as you know but what I didn't know was that it made her start to remember something from her past, that was linked with what happened down on that planet."  
"We think that this life form may be controlling the planet and its ecosystem somehow, that's why we're going down to have a look. We hope that they or it may know what has happened to the Washington and Voyager. If we can communicate with it, it may be able to help Beverly." Picard suggested.  
"Somehow I don't think that it will be in the mood for helping, Captain. Please be careful though." Troi replied.  
"Careful is at the top of my list, Counsellor. Picard out." The channel closed and Troi turned back to her friend on the bio-bed.  
  
The Defiant left the station and headed off towards the Enterprise at warp five. Its crew consisted of Captain Sisko, Commander Riker, Dr. Bashir and Chief O'Brien. Since the Defiant was one of Starfleet's most newest design of starships, the ship's computer was more advanced and able to handle most of the functions of a full crew; therefore the ship was able to make do with as little as four people on board at any one time.  
"Commander, we need the precise co-ordinates of the Enterprise, once we enter the nebula our sensors will be as severely compromised as your own were." Sisko said turning in his chair to look at the Enterprise's first officer.  
"Aye, Captain." Riker said turning to Chief O'Brien and informing him of the last known position of the Enterprise. "Chief, heading one-four- seven mark zero-six-one. Those were the last co-ordinates of the Enterprise."  
"Aye, sir." O'Brien replied tapping the co-ordinates into the computer and engaging engines.  
"It's a pity that we can't inform the ship that we're coming but I said that it shouldn't take me more than eleven hours so they should be expecting us." Riker said cutting through the silence on the ship. The engines of this starship were even quieter than those of the Enterprise.  
"We'll be there soon enough, Commander, just sit tight." Sisko replied.  
The ship sped off to the aid of Dr. Crusher.  
  
On board the Enterprise Captain Picard stood up from the center seat on the bridge. "Computer, transfer primary control to the battle bridge." The computer beeped as the task was carried out and most of the bridge crew rose and headed for the turbolifts. "Lieutenant Simmons, you have the bridge and control of the saucer section."  
"Aye, sir." Simmons said moving away from one of the science stations at the back of the bridge.  
"We'll inform you of when we're going down to the planet. If anything should happen while we're down there, you have orders to take the saucer section out of the nebula and to Deep Space Nine."  
"Aye, sir." He replied, and then as an afterthought, "Captain, what about Commander Riker?"  
"Commander Riker is bringing Dr. Bashir here form DS9. When they get here make sure that Dr. Bashir goes straight to sickbay. Commander Riker will take over command of the saucer section."  
"Very good, sir. I'll inform him of what has happened. Good luck, sir."  
"Thank you, Mr. Simmons." Picard said stepping into the turbolift and heading for the battle bridge. Simmons sat down in the center seat and waited.  
  
Beverly Crusher stood in the house that had been their home for three years. Jack was busy loading all of the data into the padd that he carried, for the co-ordinates of all of their furniture, so that the beam out could begin. They had planned moving into larger accommodation ever since their son Wesley had been born. He was two and a half years old now and it was time for that move to begin.  
They were going to live on Delos Four for a few years so that Beverly could finish her medical training. Jack was going to be on Earth for a little longer with Wesley and they would be moving into temporary accommodation at Starfleet, he was going to go and help Beverly get the new house sorted out first though.  
Jack moved through all of the rooms loading in all of the data and preparing a list of everything they were taking with them. The freighter would soon be in orbit to beam up all of their furniture and he wanted everything ready for when they arrived so that they could get going as soon as possible.  
Beverly wandered into the nursery to see what Wes was up to. She had left him in his playpen while they were busy so that he wouldn't be in the way. She moved over to the playpen and looked over the barrier to find that Wesley was no longer there. Maybe Jack's taken him, She thought turning around and calling for her husband. "Jack. Have you got Wes?"  
"Wes? No. Why? Where is he?" Jack said entering the room at haste, Wesley was already able to walk and was proving to be quite a handful at times. He was always playing with things he shouldn't and getting into more trouble than enough. Beverly found him trying to re-modulate Jack's personal phaser one day while he had been on leave from Starfleet. He had climbed up into a cupboard and disabled the locking mechanism on the door before retrieving the phaser.  
"He's got out again, that's why." She said immediately starting to search for him with Jack right behind her.  
"I swear that we'll be using a force field to keep him locked up soon." Jack said trying to remain calm and moving boxes out of the way so he could see if Wes was behind them.  
"Here he is, Jack. How did you get all the way up there, little man?" Beverly asked, picking her son out of the food replicator.  
"The food replicator this time? Think he's trying to tell us something?" Jack commented as Wesley pointed back to where he had been a moment ago.  
"He's not due his feed for another two hours, Jack. If we start feeding him in between meals he'll get confused and his routine will be all mixed up. He needs some sort of consistency in his life at the minute, especially with the move and everything." Beverly told him.  
"Well, you're the doctor." Jack replied returning to his cataloging of all the furniture.  
"Wait, Jack. He's not pointing to the replicator, he's pointing at the comm panel, we've got an incoming message." Jack turned smiling and seeing the flashing light on the comm panel just above the replicator.  
"That's may little model Starfleet officer." Jack said moving over to the comm panel and tapping a few buttons.  
"Lieutenant Commander Crusher here. Go ahead." Jack spoke into the comm unit.  
"Commander, this is the Marimax freighter, I'm Captain Hites. We're here to beam up some furniture and take you and your family to Delos Four."  
"Thank you, Captain. I've prepared a list for you and I'm down loading it into the computer now. You can begin when ever you feel ready." Jack said tapping a few buttons on his computer console.  
"Up loading now, Commander." The captain of the freighter said.  
Jack cut the comm link and turned to Beverly who was standing behind him and keeping tight control of Wesley. "I forgot to give you this, Bev." He held out a small computer chip to her.  
"What is it?" She asked him as she took it from his hand.  
"I made it a few days ago, it's a holographic program for Wesley when he gets older. I figured I would record everything I wanted to say to him incase I forget it. I want him to know who his father was when he gets older just incase anything happens. I'm going to make more of them but I wanted you to keep this for him."  
"Okay but nothing is going to happen so you can give it to him yourself when he's old enough." She gave him a determined look and placed the chip in her pocket where it would be safe until they got to Delos.  
Within a few minutes the furniture around them was beginning to shimmer and was finally gone within the blink of an eye. Jack, Beverly and Wesley stood together in the lounge room of their empty house looking around.  
"I'm going to miss this place." Beverly commented.  
"It was our first home together." Jack said beginning to feel nostalgic about the place.  
"There sure are a lot of memories here." Beverly commented.  
"Beam us up." Jack said to the comm panel and in an instant, they were gone in another shimmer of light and were whipped away to another page of their lives.  
  
A/N: Please leave a comment. Thanks 


	13. chapter 12

Chapter Twelve  
  
The Defiant moved to the outer rim of the nebula and held position for a few seconds. A bleep came over the comm channel from the buoy that the Enterprise had dropped, and Captain Picard's message for the Cumberland was heard over the intercom system on the bridge.  
"The USS Cumberland should be heading this way to help with the search for the Washington and Voyager." Riker informed Sisko as the message played in the background.  
"Very well, Commander. Take us into the nebula, Chief." Sisko replied. "Nice and easy."  
"Aye, sir. Engaging at full impulse." The Defiant entered the nebula and headed for the last known location of the Enterprise.  
"Shields up." Sisko said as the ship began to rock and the red alert sounded with the sudden build up of radiation.  
"Aye, sir." Riker said from the tactical station.  
"We should be within range of the Enterprise in half an hour, sir." Chief O'Brien informed them from the helm position.  
"Very well. Just take it nice and slow, Chief. I want a smooth ride."  
  
The bridge crew on the engineering section of the Enterprise consisted of Data, La Forge, Worf, Ensign Gates and Captain Picard in command. Everyone had assumed their positions and were awaiting their orders.  
"Computer, initiate saucer separation." Picard said from the command chair on the Battle Bridge of the Enterprise.  
"Acknowledged."  
"Prepare for umbilical disconnect and shut down all turbolifts from the saucer section to the engineering section. Close all Jeffries tubes off." Picard instructed the computer and it performed each task in turn.  
"All orders completed." The computer finally replied.  
"Release docking latches."  
"Docking latches released." Replied the computer again.  
"Open a channel to the saucer section the moment we are clear of her, Lieutenant, and put it on the view screen." Picard said to Worf who was manning the tactical and communications consoles behind the command area.  
"Aye, sir." Worf said from the back of the bridge. "Channel open now, sir."  
"Picard to Lieutenant Simmons, we're clear of the saucer section now and we'll be proceeding down toward the planet momentarily." The image of the main bridge flickered for a moment with the buildup of excess radiation affecting the communications systems.  
"Thank you, Captain. We'll remain in orbit until you return. Good luck."  
"Thank you, Lieutenant. Picard out." The view screen flickered off and returned to the now familiar sight of the murky nebula. "Change course and head directly for the planet, Ensign." Picard instructed.  
"Changing course now, sir." Ensign Gates said from the helm. The view screen changed almost immediately to show the planet as the engineering section shifted position within the nebula. Picard looked at the planet still intrigued by what he saw. He thought it impossible that he would actually have seen a planet full of life that had remained in a radiation filled area of space for so long without dying. It was certainly worthy of study and when all of this was over he was sure that the Federation would send a research vessel in to look at it more closely.  
The ship sped off to seek out new life on the mysterious planet below.  
  
Crusher awoke one morning hearing a loud rap on the door to her home on Delos Four. Where she had moved six months ago to complete an internship with the doctor she had met a few years ago, Dalen Quaice- back when she had been involved with the rescue of two pilots when their shuttle has crashed. Dr. Quaice and she had become quite good friends over the last few years since that incident, and she had requested that she do her last year of medical training under her mentor.  
Delos was quite a small planet in a system of seven planets that orbited binary stars. The days were long and the terrain and climate rough but it was habitable by humans, and so Starfleet had decided to colonise it. It contained a small population but it was by no means unproductive. Recently Delos Four had put itself quite literally on the map when archaeologists had discovered various artifacts that linked the world to the mysterious Iconian race. Just recently everyone had been visiting from afar and so the use of a complex medical service was needed more and more everyday- and therefore one accomplished doctor, an intern and four nurses were no longer enough.  
For the last week more medical technicians, nurses and four new doctors had been arriving on various ships. It was Beverly's job to get them all settled in, and so she was going to receive two new house guests until more accommodation was built for them, and until Jack and Wesley could join her. Jack was still back on Earth tying up all of the unfinished business and was looking after their now three year old son. They would both be taking a shuttle to Delos Four in a few weeks time to join Beverly. She missed them both and although Jack had been sending her holograms of Wesley every other week, she still wondered how much he had grown and what he was like now.  
Beverly leapt out of bed when she heard the insistent rapping for the second time, and dragged a gown over her bed clothes, whilst rushing to the door and trying to tie it at the same time. She got to the door and banged into it as she skidded to a halt, reaching down to rub her knee as she opened it. She looked up and saw a woman standing there with her bags sitting on the floor. Great, my new houseguest is a Vulcan! What fun we're going to have. Beverly thought as the Vulcan woman stood with one raised eyebrow at the sight of Beverly rubbing her knee and dressed ready for bed.  
"Greetings. I am Dr. Selar recently assigned to Delos Four from the USS Birmingham to complete my internship. I trust you were expecting me, though by your attire, not so soon?" Selar said in a very stern and somewhat unfriendly manner.  
"Right, you are rather early. You're not supposed to arrive until this afternoon. Excuse the way I'm dressed but you woke me up and I was out rather late last night." Beverly stood up and moved away from the door to allow her guest to enter. "Please, come in and make yourself at home." Selar entered, picking up her bags as she did so, Beverly closed the door.  
As Selar entered she took a long look around the sitting area. "The house seems to be adequate for my needs. I think we will get along like a 'house on fire', as you humans fraise it." Selar turned to see Beverly grimace as she hobbled over to her. "It appears that you require medical attention, Doctor."  
"It's just bruised that's all." Beverly sat down and got out a small medical kit to treat her knee.  
"Indeed?" Selar said skeptically. "Well, when you have sorted yourself out perhaps you would like to show me around your abode, and the colony if you have time?"  
"Yes, I'll introduce you to the rest of the medical staff and show you around the facilities that we have. There's no much to look at right now but we're expanding every day." Beverly finished what she was doing and rose. "Now, if you'll excuse me I'll go and get ready and we can begin that tour. If you need anything to eat or drink there's a replicator around the corner there." Beverly said pointing in the general direction, "I'll be back in a few minutes." Beverly left to get ready. We're going to get on like a house on fire? Who's she kidding? I'm going to have serious words with Dalen when I see him, you think he could have given me some warning at least!  
A few minutes later Beverly returned to find Selar perched on the chair. "I see you've made yourself comfortable." She commented sarcastically, of course the Vulcan didn't see it as sarcasm.  
"Very comfortable, thank you Doctor," she replied seriously.  
"Please, call me Beverly when we're not on duty." Crusher told her.  
"Of course, Beverly."  
"And I should call you?" Crusher asked trying to be more acquainted with her.  
"Dr. Selar will suffice." The reply was straight forward and to the point.  
"Oh?" Beverly said trying to be as polite as she could. "I thought we might at least try to be more friendly when we're not on duty."  
"Vulcan's do not have friends." Was the stoic response from Selar. "But since you are in essence my commanding officer, you may call me Selar if you find that more comfortable with your human needs."  
It was Beverly's turn to raise her eyebrows, she couldn't understand how a person that was so cold could ever have even been considered to train to be a doctor. "Her patients must get well very quickly so that they can get away from her," Crusher thought to herself. "Well, are you ready to go?" Beverly asked wanting to get it over and done with as soon as possible.  
"Of course." Selar replied.  
They exited the house and went off to the medical facilities.  
  
A/N: please leave a review. Thank you 


	14. chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen  
  
The Defiant came along side the saucer section of the Enterprise and slowed to a halt. Captain Sisko stood up from his seat on the bridge and moved closer to the view screen. "Any ideas as to why your ship has separated, Commander?" He asked turning to look at Riker.  
"None at this time, sir. Maybe we should try hailing whoever is in charge of the saucer section." Riker said moving alongside Sisko until he was standing in the center of the bridge.  
"Dr. Bashir, open hailing frequencies and put it on screen." Sisko ordered.  
"Aye, sir," he tapped his console. "Hailing frequencies open, sir."  
Within seconds Lieutenant Simmons stood in the center of the main bridge of the Enterprise, and began addressing Captain Sisko as best he could over the radiation affected comm signal. "Captain, Commander. Nice to see you both got here in one piece." Simmons greeted.  
"What happened to the rest of the ship, Mr. Simmons?" Riker asked expectant.  
"Captain Picard has taken the engineering section, and a skeleton crew down to the planet, so that clearer scans can be taken, in the hope that a higher form of life down there may be able to help us." Simmons reported as best he could since the view screen kept winking out.  
"A higher form of life? There was no indication of that when I left." Riker said looking at Sisko in puzzlement.  
"Commander Data has been running extensive scans of the planet, sir. He found evidence that the planet contained an energy source that has to be controlled by someone. Captain Picard ordered me to relinquish command to you when you returned and to make sure that Dr. Bashir goes straight to sickbay, sir." Simmons informed them over the crackily comm link.  
"Very well. The Defiant should be able to fit into the main shuttle bay. Have it cleared and ready for docking immediately, Lieutenant." Riker ordered.  
"Aye, sir. Enterprise out."  
After a few minutes wait the Defiant was cleared for docking, and Chief O'Brien expertly steered the ship into the main shuttle bay.  
Commander Riker led the way out of the shuttle bay and headed for sickbay to drop the doctor off, before he, Sisko and O'Brien headed for the main bridge.  
  
Picard ordered Commander Data to sweep the engineering section of the Enterprise into the lower atmosphere of the planet below, and try to get clear readings of anything that might be there.  
"Are you getting anything, Commander?" Picard said looking at the android.  
"Nothing as yet, sir. I imagine that whatever is down there may be shielded somehow or else we would have seen it by now." Data suggested.  
"Keep trying, Commander."  
"Aye, sir." Data sat for a few minutes longer at his console. After a few more scans he noticed a blip of energy and a signature trail. "Captain, I believe I have something," he said turning to attract Picard's attention.  
"What? Where?" Picard said getting out of his seat and moving to Data's console.  
"It is at bearing zero-nine-five mark one-two, near the mountains we have just passed by." Data said.  
"Ensign, take us to those co-ordinates and slow to one tenth impulse." Picard ordered immediately; it looked as though they may have found what they were looking for.  
"Aye, sir." The ensign said as he carried out Captain Picard's orders.  
The ship moved slowly to where the energy reading had been noticed and passed over the area once again.  
"Captain, it would be advisable to move to a higher orbit and take readings from there. Now that we know where to look, it would not be advisable to keep the ship here. The gravity of the planet is affecting our systems and structural integrity of the hull." Worf intoned from his station.  
"Very well, Lieutenant. Take us to an altitude of one thousand kilometers, Ensign." Picard ordered.  
"Aye, sir. Engaging engines at one half impulse... Captain, we're not moving." Ensign Gates spoke up from the helm.  
"What?"  
"It seems that we're stuck here, sir." Gates replied.  
"Increase speed to full impulse and engage."  
Ensign Gates did as he was ordered. "It is not working, sir. We appear to be held here somehow."  
"Captain I believe that we are being held by some sort of tractor beam being emitted from the co-ordinates where we detected the energy blip." Data informed them, studying his console intently.  
"Try and break free of it, anyway you can." Picard instructed.  
"Aye, sir. Emitting hydrogen ions to try and disrupt the beam." The ship shook as the grip around the ship was tightened. "Captain, it is not working. The strength of the beam is increasing by a factor of three."  
"All stop. Commander, I wan..." The ship was surrounded by light so intense that everyone had to shield their eyes, including Data. "What's happening?" Picard asked.  
"It appears to be some sort of matter transporter beam, we are being beamed somewhere, Captain." Commander Data replied.  
The light intensified and the crew felt the sickening stomach wrenching feeling of being translocated. The light faded and the ship materialised in a dark enclosure.  
  
Commander Riker entered on to the bridge followed by Sisko and O'Brien. "Report." Riker ordered as he moved down to the command area at haste.  
Simmons stood up from the captain's chair relinquishing it to Riker. "Sir, we've just lost contact with the engineering section. We were keeping an open comm link as best we could and tracking it with our sensors. She disappeared when we detected a burst of energy from the mountains in the Northern Hemisphere, Commander."  
"What sort of energy beam? Could it have been a weapon of some sort?" Riker asked turning to Lieutenant Simmons who had just taken over at tactical.  
"It seemed to be some sort of tractor beam and then a second beam was emitted and the ship disappeared."  
"Very well, I want options." Riker said sitting in the center seat. Sisko took the seat on Riker's right and O'Brien took Counsellor Troi's usual seat, ready and waiting for anything that they could do.  
"Sir, Captain Picard's orders were explicit that if anything should happen we were to take the saucer section to Deep Space Nine." Simmons informed them.  
"Yes, Lieutenant Simmons but we need to find the captain, and the rest of our ship before it's too late." Riker said, he knew that the lieutenant was only carrying out his orders. "Captain Sisko is here and we've got the Defiant as well if we need backup." Riker told him, not wanting to give up on his crew so soon.  
"Aye, sir." Simmons said backing down immediately.  
"Options?" Riker asked out loud again and looking to Captain Sisko for any ideas.  
  
A/N: Please leave a review. Thanks 


	15. chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen  
  
Captain Jean-Luc Picard took a long deep breath and let it out slowly as he decided how to proceed with the task that lay ahead of him. He stepped forward from the shuttle and started off slowly down the road.  
"Captain, do you want me to accompany you?" Picard half-turned and looked straight at the shuttle pilot; he was silent for a moment as his thoughts drifted slightly. "Sir?" The pilot asked again.  
"No thank you, that won't be necessary, Ensign. I think it would be best if I did this myself." He gave a slight smile to the pilot. "Thank you anyway," he told him sincerely.  
"Very well, sir." Picard turned again and started walking with slow measured steps once more.  
News. Sometimes it could be good but more than likely it would be bad. Sometimes a captain's job was to deliver news to people from a higher order, and find ways and options of dealing with that news if the need arose. Captain Picard however carried the burden of telling the family of his crew that their relatives had died or been seriously injured in the line of duty. This burden that he carried today though was as painful for him, as what it would be for the person he was going to see.  
He straightened up as he walked, thinking about what he would say to Beverly. Beverly his friend, his best friend's wife and now, unfortunately his best friend's widow.  
Jack had died in the line of duty, serving the Federation. He had died with honour but of course that wouldn't make Beverly or Wesley feel any better. Wesley, Jack's young son would now have to grow up without his father's guidance. How would he tell him? How do you say to a boy of five that his father will never come home again? How do you make him understand? This was going to be one of the hardest things that Picard had ever had to do and he did not relish the task ahead.  
Picard ran all of the questions through his mind but came up with no answers, or none suitable enough to explain why his best friend's life, had been seriously cut short. He stopped short of walking into the door to Beverly Crusher's house. Waiting, he sighed again, and raised his hand to knock on the door.  
  
Beverly Crusher had been out on duty and was home early from the surgery; Wesley would be home within the hour. She sat at her desk going over some padds, pertaining to the patients she would have early the next morning and trying to get to know their medical histories a little better. She had always tried to get to know her patients on a personal level, and she found that that helped in the treatments that she would give, especially if the patient was very young or shy.  
She had been fully engrossed in what she was doing when suddenly a flash of light in the corner of her eye distracted her from her work. She looked up quickly in response and turned to see what it was. It could have been a shuttle with it's landing lights on, it was beginning to get dark outside after all. She never had really gotten used to the shorter days on Delos Four.  
A figure moved forward from the shadows by the window and Beverly gasped, startled. The door had been locked after all, and it would have been impossible for anyone to enter the house, short of firing a phaser on a heavy setting that is. Her jaw dropped and she stood up slowly when she saw who it was.  
"I thought I had gotten rid of you. How...?" Curiosity flashed across her face.  
"Ssshhh. Don't worry, I won't hurt you. You know you can't get rid of me anyway," she tapped the side of her head for emphasis, "I'm in your mind." Deanna Troi stepped closer and out of the shadows.  
"What do you want?" Beverly asked.  
"I want to help you." Troi replied most sincerely.  
"Yes, so you keep saying every time I see you. So far though, you've done nothing to help me that I'm aware of." Beverly reiterated.  
"That's because it hasn't happened yet."  
"What hasn't happened yet?" She asked confused.  
"I can't tell you. Look, you're just going to have to trust me. If you don't... you'll die, it's as simple as that." Troi paused letting that sink in as Beverly muttered the word die with a puzzled expression on her face.  
"Is that a threat?" Beverly asked defensively after mulling it over for a second.  
"No, not a threat but a fact. If I'm going to help you, you're going to have to do exactly what I say, okay?" Beverly nodded. "Now..." She was interrupted by a rap on the door, her heart sank. She glanced out of the window to see who the visitor was. Though it was reasonably dark outside Troi could immediately tell who it was at the door. She realised that it was Captain Picard and that he must have been here to give Beverly the news. She sensed impending doom for her friend as she came to the realisation that Beverly was nearly aware of who it was at the door, and what he was here for also.  
"Beverly. You must not answer that." She moved forward and held her friend by the arms tightly.  
Beverly stared at her. "Why? Someone's there, and its normal to answer the door."  
"Trust me." She stared at her trying to get through.  
"You keep saying that but the truth is that I can't, I don't know you from Adam!" Beverly pulled away from Troi's grip, turning around and trying everything to comprehend what was going on.  
"Do you remember when we met?" Troi asked trying a different approach.  
"Yes, back at the Academy when I..." She stopped in mid sentence and Troi cut in.  
"No that was a figment of your imagination it isn't an actual memory, just as this isn't now. We met on the Enterprise; you and Wes were down on Farpoint Station. The Enterprise came and picked you up and the rest of the crew including the first officer." Beverly listened trying to think; to try and pick up some sort of thread that would lead to the memory. Troi proceeded. "You were worried about serving with Captain Picard because..." Troi remembered that that would eventually lead to the memory that she was trying to keep Beverly away from.  
"Because..." Beverly said nearly remembering.  
"Stop. Picture this," Troi said moving along quickly as another rap came to the door, this time more persistent. "Do you remember that dancing competition a few years ago in St. Louis. You danced and danced until you could hardly stand. The competition was so strong but you refused to quit."  
"Yes, and I won it with sheer determination, I got first place in tap and jazz. The judges said they gave me the trophy just to make me stop." She laughed, remembering the pleasant memory. Suddenly the scene changed from the house to a large sports hall packed with spectators and.... dancers. She looked down and noticed that her clothes had changed. She no longer wore her Starfleet duty uniform but a dancing costume instead.  
"That was close," Troi thought, she felt the strength beginning to return to her friend's mind but there was still a long way to go, and she couldn't quit now.  
"What...?" Beverly said astonished and looking about her in disbelief. "This is the dance competition in St. Louis. How did you do this?"  
"I didn't, you did. When you started to remember that particular memory it became the center of your attention and so we went back to that day in your mind. You'll relive the emotions and everything that went on that day as far as you can remember. As soon as you think of something else we'll move on to it."  
"I can't believe that any of this is happening." Beverly said as she looked to Troi in shock. "I don't understand..."  
"Why don't you just accept what I'm saying to you and go with it for a time. All I ask is that you trust me." Troi paused for a moment. "I know that you want to believe me... You know who I am deep down and that I wouldn't do anything to hurt you."  
"I have a strong feeling of friendship- for want of a better word, when I see you. I don't know where it comes from but I'll do things your way for the time being." Beverly said a bit resigned to the fact that Troi must be telling the truth.  
"So are we moving on to another memory?" Troi asked her.  
"I think I'll stay here for a bit, it's really quite intriguing."  
Troi nodded and smiled in relief.  
Beverly stretched out her muscles getting ready for what she knew was about to happen.  
"Cadet Beverly Howard." The commentator said and she stepped up onto the floor and waited for the music to begin.  
Troi felt a bit strange, dizzy and suddenly very weak. Remembering what Selar had said about the silosinen wearing off, she began to unlink her mind with Crusher's, and backed off slowly.  
  
A/N: Please leave a review. Thanks 


	16. chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen  
  
Data scanned the area about the ship with the sensors. "Sir, it appears that we have been transported into a cave of some sort. There is a metallic structure about forty meters from our present location but I cannot scan anything beyond that point. The cave has a stable atmosphere and is suitable enough for an away team to survive in. I am not detecting any form of life other than some plant life."  
"Is the ship secure here? Will we experience any sort of gravimetric disturbances at all?" Picard said standing up from the center seat and moving toward Data's console. The ship was after all designed to be in space and the Enterprise unlike Voyager had not been designed to land on a planet, it wasn't even conceivable for a ship the size of the Enterprise- even if it was just the engineering section.  
"The ship appears to be secure, Captain. We are not experiencing any sort of external forces on the hull, even though the cave has the same gravity as that on the surface of the planet. It is like someone has erected a shield around the ship that is protecting us."  
"Very well, Mr. Data assemble an away team, we're going to find out exactly what has just happened." Picard said feeling very intrigued and cautious.  
"Aye, sir." Data said moving away from the console and heading towards the turbolift.  
Data stepped up to the transporter pad with Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge and Lieutenant Worf.  
"Energize," he said to the ensign operating the transporter controls. They dematerialised in a shimmer of light and re-appeared underneath the engineering section, in the cave, a moment later.  
From the cave floor the engineering section looked like a gigantic headless swan that seemed to be floating about a meter off the floor of the cave. Worf switched on his palm beacon and pulled out his phaser while Data scanned the surroundings with his tricorder and beacon, and La Forge scanned the area with his VISOR.  
"I am picking up no imperfections at all in the cave walls." Geordi said looking around slowly. "It's like they've been molded around the ship."  
"I am also detecting that as well, Geordi." Data said tapping a few buttons on his tricorder. "The metallic structure is in this direction," he said moving off at an angle. The others followed and they walked a short distance away from the ship until they came to what looked like a metal wall. Data scanned it again with a puzzled expression on his face. "It is made of deuterium and looks to be ancient. It should be possible to get by this obstacle with the use of a phaser."  
"Stand back." Worf ordered as he took aim with his phaser. Geordi stepped close to the metal wall, seeing something before Worf had had a chance to fire.  
"Worf, aim here, there's a sort of opening." Geordi pointed then moved back to stand next to Data. Worf fired and sparks left the surface of the wall as the orange beam sliced through, and a door sprang open. A cool rush of air escaped the interior that stank of dampness and rotting vegetation.  
Data tapped his comm badge. "Data to Captain Picard."  
"Picard here, go ahead, Commander."  
"Sir, we have approached the metallic structure and have found a doorway. It will be necessary to continue on past this door in order to find what we are looking for."  
"Proceed, Mr. Data but cautiously, and report if you find anything." Picard replied from the Battle Bridge.  
"Aye, sir." Data answered and they stepped through the opening.  
  
Bashir entered sickbay and headed straight for the CMO's office where Dr. Selar was located. "Doctor Selar, I'm Dr. Bashir from Deep Space Nine. Where's the patient please?" Selar rose and headed out of the office toward Crusher's biobed.  
"Here she is Dr. Bashir. All of Dr. Crusher's files are available on the monitor behind you. We are hoping that you can help her with the research that you have been conducting recently, I've read your papers and have found them most intriguing."  
"Well that's what I'm here for and I'll certainly do everything that I can to help. Have you any idea what may have caused this?" Bashir asked, getting right down to business.  
"We are still in the dark on that at the moment Doctor but we have found that if we keep her reliving pleasant memories then she regains strength. Counselor Troi is working closely with her at this minute. We have been trying telepathy to bring her away from all of the bad memories that she has had; at one point all of her stats dropped so low that we nearly lost her. The counsellor has managed to keep her alive, and she is slowly regaining her strength." They moved round the biobed. "We had to give Counsellor Troi silosinen though just so she could get through to her."  
Bashir nodded. "We're talking about endorphins here." He paused and opened the bag containing all of his research. "My theories are based around the use of endorphins to bring a coma patient out of the comatose state. Usually it only works if we are battling against some sort of microbial infection but since we don't know what we're up against here, we might as well give it a go."  
Bashir set up some apparatus in the lab around the corner from Crusher's bio-bed and set to work on producing the right sort of endorphins. He took a sample of Crusher's DNA and spinal fluid, making sure that the endorphins produced would be tailored to her body, in case of rejection. Selar watched him as he worked.  
A stir from the room where Crusher lay alerted the two doctors that something was happening, they rushed into the next room to find Troi standing, unsteadily. Selar quickly moved to catch her as she started to collapse from exhaustion, Bashir helped to get her onto another bio-bed.  
"Dr. Bashir?" She whispered trying to keep her eyes open.  
"Yes it is. It looks like you've over done things a little, Counsellor." He said.  
"I told the counsellor that her body would tire quickly with the increased level of telepathy over the last few days." Selar informed him.  
"Of course. The only thing you can do now Counsellor is to rest. I'll try and help Dr. Crusher as much as I can, and if we need you then we'll let you know." Bashir said smiling to her.  
"Doctors, I left her with a pleasant memory but I don't know how long it will last. I don't think we have much time though." Troi said trying to give them as much information as she could.  
"Understood, and thank you." Bashir said as he moved off back to the lab and to his research.  
Selar administered Troi with a telepathic blocker so that she could get some sleep and went off to help Bashir.  
  
A/N: Please leave a review. Thank you. 


	17. chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen  
  
As they walked into the room they noticed the source of the mysterious energy readings. A huge generator extended from the ceiling of a large underground complex that stretched as far as the eye could see. The height of the generator must have been about fifty meters easy, and it seemed to disappear into the floor and go on for another fifty or so. The width of it was truly spectacular as well, being about twenty meters in diameter, the room it was housed in just about held it, and there were several corridors reaching out to different rooms at different angles.  
Consoles were concentrated on the right of the generator and looked operational enough. The room was silent other than the soft thrumming noise of the generator and the echoes of the away team's voices as they spoke.  
Data scanned with his tricorder but he came up with no answers. "The generator is producing too much interference for the tricorder to function adequately enough, Commander."  
"It looks to me as if this generator has been running for hundreds if not thousands of years. It's in quite a bad state but it's still functioning." Geordi said as he walked around it; looking it up and down it's entire length. "This thing is huge, the whole room is. If we're going to get anywhere today I think we ought to spread out."  
"Agreed, we should meet back here in one hour." Worf said and Data and Geordi both nodded in agreement.  
"I'll take a look at this generator and see if I can figure out who built it or how it works." Geordi said moving closer to it with heightened interest.  
"I will examine the consoles over there." Data pointed then turned to Worf. "Mr. Worf, search the complex and see if there are any inhabitants." Worf nodded and went off.  
*****  
Beverly finished the last dance and looked up smiling as she caught sight of the judges' pleased expressions. She breathed hard and walked steadily off the dance floor and to a chair at the side of the room to await the results. She put some warm clothes on over her costume so that she wouldn't get cramp, and took a long drink of the fresh orange juice she had brought with her. The other dancers in the competition seemed to be sitting on the edge of their seats while the judges conferred with one another.  
In the corner of the room Beverly noticed a blue, hazy light start to appear. It seemed like smoke with a blue light shone on it, constantly changing form. Beverly watched it intently for a few seconds, blinking so that she could see if her eyes were playing tricks on her- they weren't. I don't believe in ghosts, she said to herself shutting her eyes and hoping it would go away. She forced herself to look once more but it was still there and the cloud was becoming more humanoid in shape. She stood up ready to go over and see exactly what it was when the judges spoke up over the speakers, announcing the winners of each of the dance groups. She glanced away momentarily interrupted but when she looked back the humanoid form had disappeared.  
The results came over the tannoid loud and clear and were as Beverly had expected to hear to start with, and then it was the turn of the results of her groups to be announced. She took a deep breath knowing that they had to pick her after all of the effort she had put in.  
"And the winner of the jazz dance competition is... Veronica Ford from Cambridge University in England." A cheer went through the crowd and stunned silence hit Beverly, she knew she should have won that competition... there was still one more chance though and she tuned in to what the judges had to say once more. "Last but certainly not least is the most popular of our competitions, the tap group. The winner of this section is... again Veronica Ford from Cambridge." A cheer hit the crowd again and Beverly sunk lower into her chair feeling disconcerted; her thoughts mixed with emotion.  
"I won this competition, she came in second." Beverly said to herself in astonishment at the results. "This isn't right." Looking across to where the blue haze had been a moment before she noticed that it had returned once more but this time it looked more like a person, and the blue coloring was in fact the colour of the clothing it was wearing. The way it stood and faced her made it look as though it were laughing at her. She stood quickly wanting to make a fast exit. Everything was confusing her at the moment and she didn't know what to do.  
Turning on her heel fast to make a quick get away from the ghostly apparition she stumbled forward and hit the floor with a thud, sinking immediately into unconsciousness with the impact.  
Inside her mind she woke up in a strange place. Had she been here before? It looked vaguely familiar to her but she didn't know how. She stood up from the ground and looked up at the sky.  
The dark grey clouds loomed ominously overhead as she stood waiting. Great masses of swirling gasses closed in on each other blocking out any sun light that might try to sneak past, and causing everything below to go dim, and depressingly colourless. The air was still and calm and carried no far off noises to the ears of anyone who might be listening.  
It gradually began to get warmer and darker still as the first rumble of thunder was heard off in the far distance. She moved slightly and sighed. She had been waiting for a while now but no matter how hard she tried, she could not remember why she was waiting, but she felt compelled to do so just the same, and so she waited a bit longer.  
She looked up at the sky as she felt the first splash of cool rain on her face. She loved the rain, it made her think that it was the Earth's way of cleansing itself of all the badness, and so she listened intently to the splashes and drips.  
The thunder drew closer and gradually louder as the storm set to work. It had been building up to this particular moment in time for days now, and it had finally arrived. The sky opened up and the rain poured down, bouncing back off the ground below. Sighing again and letting the rain splash down on her face she felt the relief that came to her when the storm finally broke. She moved to one side slightly and stood under a large English oak tree that provided plenty of shelter, as the weather became more dismal and bleak.  
She looked down towards a pool of water that was forming in the middle of the road. Road? What road? She hadn't remembered a road being there when she came here, but then she hadn't remembered coming here, how she got there, why she was there or indeed where she was. All she knew was that it somehow seemed familiar to her, and she felt compelled to wait. But for what? She felt sure that the answers she seeked were not far from her mind.  
The thunder rumbled loudly once again as it moved directly above her, and the sharp flash of fork lightening that stabbed at the ground one hundred meters away, made her attention snap back, and her vision to focus on the pool of water once again. She watched as the rain splashed in the puddle, causing rippling effects that moved in circles towards the outside of the pool.  
Mesmerizing.  
The thunder rumbled loudly once again with a sharp stab of lightening following closely behind.  
The rain subsided after about half an hour of the heavy droplets pelting off the ground, the thunder had long since dissipated and the sky had lost all of it's electrical charge. It was cold now and she began to shiver slightly, she pulled her cloak tightly around her and stepped out from under the tree, moving closer to the pool of water on the road. The water lay still and clear as she moved closer to it and looked down. Something looked back at her. Her reflection? She studied the image but could not recollect it as being her. Could it be that she had never seen herself before? She could not remember. Nevertheless, she was motivated by curiosity to look again. Sure enough as she moved closer to the water again, the same image reappeared. It must be her; there was no one else here.  
She moved her hand up to her hair and touched it gently, the reflection did the same, a wisp of hair fell down into her eyes and she brushed it aside absentmindedly, and as though it were a perfectly natural thing for her to do. She studied her reflection. Her hair was a vibrant reddish/orange colour and was quite long, falling about her shoulders in a neat and tidy style. Her eyes were blue and she had a healthy complexion. A warm glow about her with red cheeks, she was not hypertensive and she knew this. How? Her cheeks were red because of the cold temperature that had been caused by the rain cooling everything down.  
She looked up from the puddle and glanced at her surroundings.  
Mist.  
She could not see anything because of the mist.  
Had it been misty all along?  
What she did see was a portion of the road and the large English oak tree, vibrant with life. She didn't want to go wandering off and get lost, so she decided to stay where she was and try to figure out who she was instead. She looked at her clothes. She wore a large black cloak that she hugged to herself, black trousers and black shiny boots. Not a lot of clues there, she thought removing the cloak so she could see what else she was wearing. She found that the trousers were attached to the top, which was also black in parts but with blue arms and front- and back she presumed; though she could not see. The neckline was quite high with blue braid around it and three gold pips on the right hand side. Strange, she said to herself, this must be some sort of a uniform, but for what purpose? She noticed a gold badge that stood out against the blue on the left-hand side of her chest. It was a type of delta symbol that was linked at the bottom with an upward curve, and surrounded by an oval. She touched it, admiring it slightly and knowing that it was something she was proud of, it made a chirping noise but nothing more. "Well, I'm obviously part of some sort of organisation, though what, I'm not sure." She looked down to her waist and found a hand sized grey box, which she took from its holster. "My tricorder," she said pleased that she finally recognised something, but how did she know this? Yet more puzzling questions that she could not answer at this time.  
She opened up the device revealing twinkling lights, and turned it so that it was facing away from her. She pressed a few buttons and moved it up and down a few times, at a distance of about ten centimeters from her body. It made a whirring sort of noise, and once it finished, she turned it back around and deciphered its readings. "B.P normal, pulse rate normal, temperature 36.9 degrees celcius," she looked up. "Everything checks out I guess." She put the tricorder back in its holster and wrapped the cloak around her again.  
She thought about how she might get out of her immediate problem, which was to determine who she was. The rain splashed down on her face again, and she moved back under the tree and sat down on the bench. "Wait a minute. This definitely was not here before. What's happening?" Though she did not understand how it got there or why it was there, it was a very welcome sight since she had been standing for hours, so she sat, made herself comfortable and thought some more.  
After a few minutes she decided that she would use her tricorder again, scan her brain wave patterns- that she knew were unique to every person, and cross reference the data with the tricorder- she also knew that the tricorder carried all of the information she needed to determine who she was, via cross referencing the data she collected, with the medical records it contained in it's memory. How she knew all of this though was beyond her at this point.  
A few minutes later she finished the scan and began using the data to formulate an answer as to who she was. The small computer finished compiling the information it was given and then came up with the answer. The woman looked down and read the screen. "Results show positive indications that this person is Dr. Beverly Crusher." It clicked into place, she remembered who she was now but there were so many unanswered questions.  
A figure stepped forward from under the oak tree; or rather it was an outline of a figure, hardly visible at all. It seemed cloudy containing a slight blue hue. She had seen this figure before at the dance competition but she hadn't known what it was then and still didn't now. It was definitely humanoid though and as it approached her she could begin to make it out a bit more clearly.  
The figure stopped, held out what was presumably its arms and shook what was presumably its head. Beverly stared at it in disbelief as it vanished once more into nonexistence. It must have been trying to tell her something she assumed but what? There didn't seem to be a purpose for this "ghost" to keep on visiting her or at least not anything that she was aware of. Her heart sank as she stood in bewilderment and stared at the place the "ghost" had just occupied.  
  
A/N: Please leave a review. Thank you. 


	18. chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen  
  
Data looked across at Geordi when he had finished his analysis of the consoles in the generator room. "Geordi, have you found anything of consequence?" He asked, waiting for a reply while Geordi finished what he was doing.  
"Actually, Data, I haven't found anything. As far as I can tell this generator is here to protect the outer atmosphere from the nebula gasses and shield the planet. As I suggested it somehow keeps the environment outside alive." Tapping the buttons on his tricorder he continued his report, "My scans say that this generator itself is about five thousand years old but that's about it. What did you find out?" Geordi asked.  
"Much the same as you, Geordi. These consoles appear to have been controlled by humanoids at one point in time but that is no longer the case. The guardian of this planet, if Counsellor Troi was right in that there is one, is either not humanoid and keeps that generator and all other functions operating by some other means or is humanoid, and there is another control console elsewhere in the complex that it uses." Data and Geordi turned to see Worf entering the generator room from one of the corridors.  
"There are no inhabitants of this complex, no living quarters or any signs of life. There is no way out of here either and I can't find any sign of a transporter device that might have brought us here." Worf reported looking quite impatient and annoyed at having been sent on a wild goose chase for nothing.  
"What about another console that may be used to operate the generator?" Geordi asked.  
"There are no other such devices in any of the rooms, Commander. All of the rooms appear empty and I cannot detect any other source of power on my tricorder that might indicate any more consoles in the complex." Worf replied. "I suggest that we look in the outer cave more closely, there may be something that we missed."  
"It seems that our search is complete here. I think we should return to the ship and report to the captain. The ship's sensors may be able to scan the cave more accurately than a tricorder." Data suggested. They turned and left the complex, heading back to the ship.  
  
Troi awoke with a start and sat bolt upright on the bio bed. She shook her head as she broke the link between her mind and Beverly's. "I can't help her anymore." She told Dr. Selar, rubbing her eyes as she got used to the light again.  
"Please don't try, Counsellor," Bashir said as he came around the corner from the lab. "The blocker you've been given hasn't set to work properly yet, give it time. There's nothing more that you can do for her now."  
"I can only sever the link when I'm awake, if I sleep then my mind will wander and most likely link with Beverly's again since I'm so worried about her condition and can't stop thinking about her." Troi said as she jumped down off the bed.  
"You'll be able to sleep soundly when that blocker sets in and takes effect. Give it about an hour or so, you've had quite a lot of silosinen." Bashir told her.  
Troi nodded to him. "Are you any closer to finding something that will help her?"  
Bashir gestured for Troi to follow as he stepped back into the lab. "This vial is a solution to all of her problems... I hope." Bashir said holding up a mixture of drugs in a small hypospray bottle.  
"Hope?" Deanna asked concerned that it was the best he could come up with.  
"I'm afraid that we haven't had time to test it and we have to act quickly if it's going to work at all." Bashir told her, sympathetic with her concern.  
Troi nodded, understanding. "Is there anything I can do?"  
"Not really, Counsellor. I'm going to administer the drug, and monitor her." Bashir stepped out of the lab with Troi and Selar. He took a hypospray from a side bench and loaded the vial into it. Beverly still lay on the bio bed and Bashir walked over to her, he turned to look at Selar to see if she was monitoring Beverly's condition. Selar nodded back to Bashir, indicating that she was ready and he shot Beverly with the vial in the side of her neck.  
Selar spoke up from the monitor. "Nothing is happening, Dr. Bashir."  
"What?" He spun round and quickly made his way over to the console. "How is this possible? We should have had something, some indication of which way this situation was going to go, be it good or bad."  
"You have done something but not what you expected." Troi looked up at them both and they stopped what they were doing. "It's a life form down on the planet, far superior to anything we've encountered before, it has a hold on Beverly's mind to try and learn more about us from her past experiences." Troi said as she stood listening to something with her mind.  
"How does it have a hold on her mind, Counsellor?" Dr. Selar asked.  
  
"It's using a sort of telepathy way beyond anything I can even begin to understand. It enters a host's mind and sits there extracting information, normally it can do this without harming the individual but not all of the time." She took a breath while she tried to gain more information. "My telepathic blocker isn't functioning at all right now, this alien has found a way to communicate with me. All it wants is to learn and the vial that you gave Beverly is hurting it in some way. It needs to move onto another host and it has selected me." She said looking them both in the eyes as they started to move closer to her, shocked by what she had just said.  
"Counsellor you..." Bashir said continuing to move over to her to try and help, to at least attempt to stop her from letting it overtake her mind.  
"It has moved into my mind now." Troi sat down, she was talking but her gaze was now distant as if she was listening to something inside her. "It is a very powerful non corporeal life form, capable of many things. It feeds off the essence of its host and gains information that way also.  
"There were inhabitants on the planet below; humanoids. The alien came from a far off place to this planet thousands of years ago. It inhabited all of the humanoids and eventually the race was killed off. The alien felt sad and decided to maintain the planet in the hope that another race would colonise it.  
"The star began emitting radiation and the alien became stranded on the planet as it slowly became engulfed and lost inside the nebula. All it wants to do is to learn and it hasn't been able to do that since no one was able to penetrate the nebula. It lives on the planet but its mind is so powerful that it can reach out into the nebula but no further, it can't leave here unless a ship comes with more hosts.  
"It was inhabiting the mind of the dead shuttle pilot when Beverly was examining him down on the planet. It had taken all of the information it could from the crewman before it had to move on to its next victim. Beverly was remembering about a time when a shuttle crash landed and it found the memory interesting so it chose her."  
"What about Beverly though? Has it left her for dead or will she survive now it's moved on?" Bashir asked the alien presence inside Troi.  
"She will regain consciousness soon." Troi replied as the alien told her what would happen.  
"What about the Washington or Voyager?" Selar asked. "Does it know where the crew of the two ships are?"  
"The Starship Washington is on the planet with part of the Enterprise but it hasn't come into contact with Voyager." Troi told them as the alien communicated through her.  
"Why did the alien take the ships?" Selar asked.  
"It wishes for a race to colonise the planet since it hasn't had contact with anybody for such a long time."  
"It's lonely?" Bashir asked.  
"Yes."  
"Will the alien let the crew and ships go?" Bashir asked, wondering if they had a hostage situation on their hands.  
"Yes, it has gained enough information from us for the time being, and it doesn't wish to cause more harm." Troi said as the alien presence spoke to her once again.  
"What do we do now?" Selar asked the alien.  
"It wants to speak with Commander Riker." Troi replied.  
"I'm sure that can be arranged. Commander Riker must be desperate for some answers by now." Bashir said as he turned to look at Selar who nodded in agreement.  
  
A/N: Please leave a review. Thanks 


	19. chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen  
  
Troi still sat in the chair next to Crusher's bio-bed with Dr. Bashir and Dr. Selar both staring at her incase the alien tried to make her do anything. Silence hit the two of them as they listened to what the alien had said, and thought of what to do to help Beverly next. The vial that Dr. Bashir had given her had not worked, and had only helped the alien to come to light and explain what had happened. Bashir turned around and headed off back to the lab with Selar in tow, Troi remained seated.  
"What do we do now?" Bashir asked in a hushed voice while looking out of the perspex at Troi.  
"We should contact Commander Riker on the bridge and tell him what has happened. It wants to see him anyway." Selar replied.  
"Agreed," Bashir said.  
Selar tapped her comm badge and spoke when the channel had opened. "Dr. Selar to Commander Riker."  
"Riker here. Go ahead, Doctor."  
"Commander we have discovered what has happened to Dr. Crusher. It appears that there is an alien life form down on the planet, and is using some sort of telepathy to extract Dr. Crusher's memories."  
"When I gave the drug I have been developing to Beverly," Bashir continued, "I somehow got the alien's attention. The drug hasn't worked on Beverly though; she's still in a coma. The alien took over Troi's mind so that it would be able to speak with us."  
"Is the counsellor alright?" Riker asked concerned that another of his closest friends might be in danger.  
"As far as we can tell she is, Commander. Apparently the alien is down on the planet but is using telepathy to contact us, it is a very powerful being." Selar replied. "We have discovered that both the Washington and the Enterprise's engineering section are down on the planet, the crews are apparently unharmed."  
"It appears that the alien might have taken them so that they may collonise the planet." Bashir interrupted.  
"Why?" Riker asked.  
"The race that used to live on the planet were all killed by the alien, quite unintentionally though. The alien lives by using it's telepathy to extract memories from its host and gain information. Usually it can extract the information so that its host isn't harmed but with different species it is unable to do that. When the natives of the planet were killed it felt guilty and hoped that if it maintained the beauty of the planet, another race may come along and colonise it."  
"That didn't happen though since the planet became inaccessible from the nebula?" Riker said cutting in.  
"That's correct, Commander." Bashir responded.  
"What does it want now then?"  
"It wants to speak with you, Commander." Selar said.  
"I'll be down right away. Riker out." The comm channel closed.  
  
A few minutes later Riker entered sickbay and headed straight for where Troi was sitting. "You are Commander Riker?" The alien said through Troi. Bashir was startled to hear the alien actually speaking instead of Troi since previously the alien had spoken to Troi and Troi had relayed the speech. Riker thought it was strange to hear Troi asking who he was but he realized that it wasn't actually her talking.  
"That's right. What do you want?" Riker asked.  
"I want some information so that I might live. Without information and memories continually stimulating my mind I will cease to be."  
Riker looked concerned. "What about my people down on the planet? What will happen to them?"  
"I will release them when you give me what I need." Was the straight and simple reply from the entity inside of Troi.  
"What about Beverly?" Riker asked pointing to where she lay.  
"She must remember that which she is permitted not to, and then she will awaken."  
Riker looked puzzled. "That which she is not permitted to remember? What's that?"  
"This body knows." The alien said.  
"Counsellor Troi knows?" Riker asked wanting to make sure.  
"Correct."  
Riker thought for a moment. "You know that we can't let you inhabit our minds any longer, and we will find a way to stop that from happening if necessary. What we can do is give you information from our library. It is a vast source of information from a wide range of cultures. I'm sure that that would keep you alive until you find something else."  
"That is acceptable as a temporary measure."  
"Fine then. I'll get that information available to you soon. In the meantime I expect you to show us a gesture of good faith also by releasing our people." Riker said in the hope that it would agree.  
"That will be done."  
"Now I want you to leave Counsellor Troi's mind so that she might be allowed to help Beverly Crusher." Riker told it.  
"I will return to my planet and prepare to receive the information." Suddenly Troi stood up and blinked her eyes a few times, as she felt dizzy with the alien's sudden departure from her mind.  
"Are you alright, Deanna?" Riker asked as he took her arms to steady her.  
"Yes. It's gone, Commander but I wouldn't make it wait too long, it's becoming desperate." She said as she stood facing him.  
"I'll get it sorted immediately, Counsellor." Riker paused. "Were you aware of what it was saying?"  
"Yes, I was." Troi told him.  
"Can you help Beverly now then?" Riker asked her as he glanced across to see Beverly was still out for the count.  
"I think so but if I haven't understood correctly then it may worsen her condition, Commander."  
Riker thought for a second. "Do what you can. I'm going back up to the bridge to see if the alien has released our people..."  
"Captain Sisko to Commander Riker." Sisko said opening up a channel.  
"Yes, Captain?" Riker asked, he had left the bridge in his capable hands while he was down in sickbay.  
"The Enterprise's engineering section and starship Washington have just emerged from the planets surface. Captain Picard is asking permission to re- join the Enterprise." Sisko informed him.  
"That was quick." Riker said to Troi. "Permission granted, Captain. I'll be up on the bridge momentarily." Riker said, Sisko had never had any training on how a Galaxy-class starship re-joined since he had never served on one before, and so Riker would have to go and take command.  
"Sisko out." The comm channel closed. Riker turned and left sickbay.  
  
A/N: Please leave a review. Thanks 


	20. chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen  
  
The Enterprise re-joined without any difficulty and before long Captain Picard was back up on the main bridge with the rest of his bridge crew.  
"What happened?" Picard asked Riker. Riker informed him of what the alien had said and how Beverly was doing. "Give the alien what it wants, Commander. There are computers down on the planet in a cave system; Commander Data can give you the co-ordinates. Get Mr. La Forge to help. Interface with the computer and transfer the information." Picard paused then added, "Commander, remember that this is technically a first contact mission now. Sensor the information that you give to the alien. I don't want it to gain access to any of Starfleet's designs or classified records."  
"Aye, sir." Riker said and he left the bridge for engineering.  
Picard turned to Captain Sisko. "Captain. It's nice to see you again." He said shaking his hand.  
"The pleasure is all mine. I just wish it were under better circumstances." Sisko replied pleasantly.  
"As do I, Captain." Picard sighed. "Since you're here do you want to make yourself useful?" Picard asked lightheartedly.  
"Certainly, I'm all yours. Just name it, Captain." Sisko replied.  
"Take an away team over to the Washington and make sure everyone is alright. Our communications have ceased to function properly with all of this radiation and we can't contact Captain Arron or his crew. You'll have to take a shuttle since the transporters are out as well."  
"I'm on my way, Captain. I'll take the Defiant though; her shields are stronger and don't need to be modified. Chief O'Brien will suffice for this mission but I'll need some medics along as well." Sisko said as he headed off for the turbolift.  
"Fine, Captain. Take whomever you need." Picard replied. "One thing though. The Washington launched a shuttlecraft before she went missing. Captain Arron probably won't know what happened to it. Unfortunately it crash-landed on the planet and both of its pilots were killed. Could you inform Captain Arron and send my condolences, please. If you could tell him that we will return the bodies when we leave the nebula." Picard asked, it wasn't easy informing a captain that a crewmember was dead and every time he had to do that job, he was reminded of the time his best friend Jack had died and when he had to tell Beverly and Wesley.  
Sisko nodded as reply. "Dr. Bashir is still with your CMO, I'll leave him to it." Sisko said finally moving into the turbolift.  
"Oh, one other thing." Sisko turned as Picard spoke, "please call me Jean-Luc."  
"Fine, call me Ben." Sisko exchanged a smile with Picard as the lift doors closed and he headed for the Defiant.  
Picard left the bridge a few moments later leaving Worf in command. After hearing an update on Beverly's condition, he wanted to make sure that he was there when she woke up.  
  
In sickbay Troi told Selar and Bashir what she needed to do. She asked them both to monitor Beverly's condition incase anything went wrong. Selar gave Troi another dose of silosinen since the blocker she had administered earlier had had its desired effect. Dr. Bashir placed a cortical stimulator on Troi's forehead and on Beverly's, and started to monitor from the console at the back of sickbay.  
"Good luck, Counsellor. Bring her back to us." Bashir said as Troi sat down in the chair she had occupied for the last few days. She picked up Crusher's hand and closed her eyes again, initiating the link between their two minds. As the link was established Troi could feel that the dark presence she had detected the first time she had done this, had gone. That was one good sign and things could hopefully only get better.  
  
Beverly Crusher was in the garden sitting on the bench under the large English oak tree. The day had turned out for the best and she was enjoying the sound of the birds singing in the trees. She looked up and saw that the blue figure had returned; though this time it was not a ghostly apparition but a solid three-dimensional humanoid. She stood up and faced her. "I knew you would come back."  
Troi moved closer and nodded to her. "Do you remember everything I've said to you?"  
"Yes, I do." She walked slowly around. "It's peaceful here, don't you think?" She said admiring her surroundings.  
"It is but we can't stay here." Troi said.  
"Ah, is this the end? The final challenge that I have to face before I can awaken?" Beverly asked seriously and trying very hard to understand.  
"In a way it is."  
"The storm has gone now, it's been very bleak in the garden the last few times I've been here. The sun's out now though and it's turned out to be a very crisp, fresh day." She looked Troi in the eyes. "Does that have something to do with what has been happening to me?" Beverly asked Deanna.  
"It may have something to do with it. Your mind has manifested this image a few times because it must have some significance to you. Maybe it's a place where you feel safe or where you have felt the most happiness or been comfortable in. I can't really say."  
"It is very tranquil here but I feel something is missing." Beverly responded after a few minutes.  
"Are you ready, Beverly?" Troi asked trying to move along quickly, she needed to be focussed and the silosinen may be wearing off again soon.  
Beverly nodded as way of a reply. Troi held out her hand, "then come with me." Beverly took the outstretched hand and the garden vanished and Beverly's old house on Delos IV appeared around them. Troi backed away into a corner and out of the memory's way.  
Beverly sat down in the chair at her desk and began going over some notes about the patients that she would be seeing the next day. She had just come off duty and Wesley would be home soon. The light outside was slowly beginning to fade; she had never quite gotten used to the shorter days on Delos IV. Suddenly there was a knock on the door, quite quiet as well as if the visitor almost hoped that no one would answer.  
Troi stood in the corner and knew who the visitor was straight away; here we go, she thought to herself as she watched Beverly rise from the chair.  
Beverly crossed the room and turned the handle of the door, opening it to see who it was. Captain Jean-Luc Picard stood there in front of her; his face was a picture of distress, sadness and guilt. "May I come in?" Troi heard him say softly. Beverly moved aside and Troi saw him enter.  
Picard was a younger version of what she was used to seeing; this Picard had short, neatly cropped graying hair, and was slightly thinner in appearance. He wore one of Starfleet's old style uniforms that were the same type of style that she was used to but were made out of a more form fitting material that was quite tight.  
"Jean-Luc? I didn't know the Stargazer was back in space dock." Beverly said as they both entered the sitting area.  
"I need to do this correctly, Beverly." He said regretfully.  
"Do what?" She asked confused already. Surely if Picard was here Jack would have come along as well?  
"I think you may want to sit down." Beverly shook her head, wanting to hear whatever it was now. "I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the starship USS Stargazer. Dr. Beverly Howard-Crusher it is with immense pain and sorrow that I have to inform you that Lieutenant Commander Jack Crusher was killed in an incident two days ago. He died in the line of duty."  
Beverly listened but she did not immediately take it in. "What?" She asked though she knew very well what he had just said she just couldn't believe it. She put her hands to her face and her legs went to jelly as she began to fall. Picard grabbed her to steady her and she wrapped her arms around him and began to sob. Picard didn't know what to do; he had never had to tell a close friend that their loved one had died. She pulled away from him. "How?" She asked shaking her head and not wanting to believe it. Just then the door opened and a small boy of about five came in. Troi noticed that it was Wesley Crusher, he stopped when he saw Captain Picard.  
"Hi, mom. What's wrong?" He said in a small high-pitched voice.  
Beverly burst into tears again, "I can't tell him, Jean-Luc." Picard went over to Wesley and put him beside his mother who was sitting on the couch now. He told them both what had happened and said that his body was in the morgue on board McKinley station where the Stargazer was docked.  
"This happened two days ago?" Beverly asked as the tears still rolled down her face.  
"Yes. I didn't want to send a communiqué. I thought this was best said in person." Picard told her.  
"Can I see him?" Beverly asked as she composed herself a bit.  
"Yes, any time you feel ready." Picard said with as much compassion as he could.  
"Now." She replied.  
They beamed up to the station, Delos Four really wasn't that far away from Mars and so there was no long laborious journey involved. Troi went along as well as Beverly's mind went through the memory, though she kept back in the shadows and out of the way to allow it to progress and unfold.  
They walked slowly along a metal-floored corridor. The journey from the transporter room to the morgue wasn't far at all but the journey seemed never ending. Beverly didn't take in much at all of her surroundings but she knew that she would remember every laboured step that she took. They walked in silence and each of their footsteps could be heard resounding through the deck. Beverly held Wesley's hand tightly as they came to the door that had a sign saying Morgue firmly attached to it.  
"Are you sure you want to see him like this?" Picard asked her. She nodded her head slowly and they all went inside as the doors parted. As a medical student she had seen her fair share of corpses but it was so hard to see the corpse of someone you knew intimately.  
Jack was lying on a metal slab with a space blanket pulled up over his head. Picard looked to Beverly as he grasped the blanket; she took a deep breath and nodded again. Picard lifted the blanket back off Jack's face and Beverly and Wesley both looked.  
Troi watched as Beverly struggled to hold back the tears while she said her good-byes, she really was holding up well, keeping everything inside. Wesley just stood staring at his father. How could he really understand at his age? Troi thought. Beverly nodded to Picard and he replaced the blanket carefully. Picard moved over to Beverly and guided her and Wesley out of the morgue.  
Troi new now why Beverly was just beginning to get over her husband's death, from the look of Jack's body he had died horribly, and that must have been extremely difficult for her to get over.  
Troi relaxed a bit knowing that the worst of it was over. Beverly had lived through the memory; after all of the effort that she had put into making sure that she wouldn't relive it. It was over now though. Beverly should come out of her coma any minute now, Troi thought.  
They had all walked back along the corridor and Beverly and Wesley had gone back home. The Stargazer had remained at the station and Picard was on hand for anything that Beverly needed.  
What was taking so long?  
Wasn't that it?  
Was there still more to come?  
The alien had said that Beverly would wake up when she had been permitted to live the memory, and she hadn't woken up yet. Troi was becoming more than concerned and thought about severing the link. Just then the view changed to the garden again. The garden was different this time though; there were more people. Beverly was there dressed in black and holding Wesley by the hand, who was also dressed in a black suit. The day was very sunny but also cold at the same time- or was it the mood of the people around her? The presence of one sun told Troi that they were no long on Delos Four but back on Earth.  
Another group of people were gathered under the large English oak tree that Troi had remembered seeing earlier, Beverly and Wesley stood near the front of the group but somewhat separate from them also. She knew some of the people in the main group, Walker Keel and Kathleen were there and Captain Picard was also but he was standing at the front. Most of them were dressed in Starfleet dress uniform and were listening to what Captain Picard was saying. In the middle of the group there was a long box with a United Federation Of Planets flag draped over it. The box was actually a coffin and Troi could clearly see it as she moved closer so she could hear.  
  
Captain Picard was reciting a poem, when he had finished he looked up at the congregation. "...And so we commend Jack Crusher's body to the Earth and hope that he might find as much happiness in his next life, as he had found here with Beverly and Wesley." Picard picked up a clump of dirt as the coffin was lowered into the ground by six of Jack's closest friends, and threw it into the hole with the coffin. "Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust." Picard completed. "Can we now observe two minutes of silence and may our thoughts be with Jack's surviving family." Everyone stood still with their heads bowed for two minutes and then slowly walked away from the graveside.  
Picard went over to Beverly and Wesley and offered them his deepest sympathy. Beverly nodded to him and thanked him for the lovely service then left quietly with her son.  
Troi stepped over to Beverly when she saw that they would be alone. "Beverly," she said.  
Beverly turned and looked at Troi. "Why?" She shook her head not really wanting that question answered.  
"You've done it, Beverly. You can wake up now. It's all over and done with."  
Beverly nodded as way of a reply.  
"I'm going to go now, will you come with me?" Troi asked holding out her hand to Beverly in the hope that she may come.  
Beverly Crusher took the hand of her long time friend and together they made the journey back to reality.  
  
Deanna Troi opened her eyes and looked straight at Beverly Crusher. Beverly opened her eyes slowly and looked back at Troi. "Deanna?" She asked with tears in her eyes as she remembered the last memory she had had.  
"Yes, it's me. Are you alright, Beverly?" Troi asked pleased that her friend had recognised her. She got up off the bio-bed a hugged Troi tightly.  
"Thank you, Deanna." She said overwhelmed. "I know what you did for me. I can remember."  
Dr. Bashir came over from the console where he had been monitoring. "Dr. Crusher," she looked at him slightly startled. "It's nice to see you again, we didn't think we were going to for a while there."  
"How...?" Beverly started to ask but stopped herself.  
"We'll explain later, right now I think there's someone else who wants to see you, he's been worried sick." Bashir replied. Troi turned to see Captain Picard standing back from everyone else. Beverly went over to him and hugged him tightly, the hug was full of meaning, and only they, and maybe Troi would know what it meant to each of them.  
"It's good to see you again, Beverly." Picard said to her.  
"Well it's certainly good to be back, Jean-Luc." She turned to the rest of the well wishers, "and thanks to all of you, for everything."  
  
A/N: Please leave a review. Thank you 


	21. chapter 20

Chapter Twenty  
  
The Enterprise drifted slowly out of the nebula towing the Washington with a tractor beam. Captain Sisko had given a full run down of what repairs the Washington needed doing and he said that the repairs would be able to be completed back at Deep Space Nine. Picard had left the orbit of the planet as soon as the information transfer had been completed, and they were all heading back for Deep Space Nine.  
As they left the nebula the USS Cumberland was coming into view. "It's a little late." Riker had said but Picard gave them a run down on what had happened and they decided to investigate the composition of the nebula anyway.  
The bodies of the two shuttle pilots had been returned to the Washington and preparations were being made for their funerals.  
  
Counsellor Troi was sitting in her office going over some files when someone buzzed her door chime. "Come in," she said and the doors opened to reveal Dr. Crusher. "What can I do for you, Bev?" Troi asked her, smiling.  
"I need to talk to you about Jack." She said. What more needed to be said? It was obvious that she had a great deal that she needed to talk about, Troi could sense that and so she cancelled all of her appointments for the afternoon so they could discuss anything that Beverly needed to talk about.  
Troi had seen things that Beverly had not revealed to anyone, and now that she knew that someone else knew, Beverly found that she could talk about Jack far more easily. And so she opened up the memories that had lain buried for so long and talked at length to Troi.  
  
A/N: That's it folks... the end of the second Star Trek story I wrote many moons ago. I really hope you liked this one. I have one story which is a Voyager/TNG crossover... it is fairly long but not complete, however, I still remember where I was going with it so I may go back and finish it. Look out for it though as I may upload what I have. It'll likely be found in the Star Trek: Voyager section.  
  
Thank you for all of your reviews so far. I look forward to hearing more. I haven't read the two Star Trek stories I've just uploaded for many years now so they could likely do with a lot of tweaking and a beta reader too. I may get round to it but I write Harry Potter fan fics now so my spare time is devoted to that when inspiration strikes.  
  
I didn't expect a response for my Star Trek stories but decided to post anyway, and I am glad I did. Thank you for taking the time to read my works.  
  
Peace and long life, live long and prosper.  
  
Bellatrix2 


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